While in charge of the foreign exchange program at Stanford, I participated in an exchange with the University of Tokyo and was able to visit Japan for the summer. I found that the respectful, safe and organized lifestyle of Japan matched my personality, but mostly the wonderful people I met through this exchange were a major reason I ended up in Japan.

Time is the most precious thing. We all have the same 24 hours. Be careful to make sure you're spending your time with and on what really matters to you. It seems obvious, but with our hectic lives bombarded by emails, social media and urgent phone calls, it is surprisingly easy to get distracted and spend time on things that are not really important to you.

For professional achievements, I think it would have to be helping grow Google in Asia. I helped Google to grow in various markets across several products, but two projects of particular note were pushing to make Chrome the No. 1 browser in seven countries and Asia as a whole, as well as making Google the No. 1 search engine in Japan.

My current goal is to simply do good things that matter. I want to use the skills and tools that I have to contribute to the people around me, the community and Japan as a whole. In particular, I’m working with Discovery because I believe the company’s mission to grow curiosity in the world is an admirable one.

Do not stay home. Go out, meet people and don't be shy. Get out of Tokyo and explore the country. There’s so much to discover. Also, try to learn the language because even just a few phrases can really help you enjoy the country and the people even more.