Right before the world shut down in 2020 I found myself in none other than Tokyo, Japan, for a little over a week. At the time, Japan was still open to tourists, but was battling a quickly-spreading Covid-19 crisis. I left Japan 2 days before the US borders closed, but not before getting some of the final photographs of my university era. This trip was a childhood dream of mine and I'm glad I have the photos to document the experience.

Fast forward a few years, it's 2025 and I get to go back again. Places I ran to for a sense of familiarity felt so foreign and new in the best way. Getting to see the change and bustle was joyous. Strangely, I can feel my growth in a lot of ways through these images—not just as an artist.