It was pitch black when Ayimen Hussien and his friends started the final push up Mt. Fuji. They’d taken the Yoshida Trail, the easiest of Fuji’s four routes, but “easy” is relative. They hiked four hours to the hut, caught a few hours of sleep, then woke in darkness to push for the summit before sunrise. The final four-hour ascent was cold and pitch black. At the top, they waited in the freezing air, nearly alone.
Then came the sunrise—and with it, many more summit seekers. Despite the crowd and the cold, the view made it all worth it. “Seeing the sunrise was just beautiful. Everybody celebrated together.” They bought overpriced miso soup from a vendor who’d hauled supplies up the mountain. They didn’t care about the cost. They were on top of Fuji, watching the sun rise over Japan.
The climb wasn’t just a bucket list item for the Seattle University senior studying Computer Science (Cohort 14). His journey to the top of the tallest peak in Japan was a fitting metaphor for his time with Rainier Scholars—a path that required planning, persistence, and the willingness to keep climbing even when you can’t quite see what’s ahead.
A Journey into the Unknown
Ayimen’s Rainier Scholars story began the way many Cohort 14 stories did—with a teacher who saw potential. Back in fourth grade, Ayimen was encouraged to apply. The acceptance letter arrived right before May 8—his birthday. His dad had already opened it but saved it as a gift. The journey was about to begin.
A literal journey involving travel wasn’t on Ayimen’s radar, however. Then, his freshman year at Seattle University, Ayimen started talking with friends who worked for the Education Abroad office. He began to consider a study abroad in South Korea. Then his cousin, stationed there as military police, gave him blunt advice: “The South Korean Culture includes a lot of drinking. You’re not a party type. Go to Japan instead.”
Ayimen, a practicing Muslim, took the advice, researched Japanese culture, and found a way to start teaching himself the language before he even arrived. He worked as a security guard at Amazon to save money. Like other Rainier Scholars, his flight was funded by a grant from Live Like Raija, a nonprofit supporting students of color traveling abroad. By the time he landed in Tokyo, he was ready.
Six Months in Tokyo: Getting Lost on Purpose
Ayimen studied at Sophia University in central Tokyo during spring semester of his junior year. His approach was deliberate: get lost, figure it out, repeat. “I would just go everywhere. I’d get lost on purpose, basically, and then discover my way back.”
He explored Shinjuku, Shibuya, and dozens of neighborhoods that tourists never see. He took day trips south to Kamakura to see the famous Big Buddha, and to Enoshima, a coastal town that he said felt like a “glitch in the matrix” with its palm trees, surfboard shops, and a lime green Lamborghini cruising past. “I was like, what is going on? Am I still in Japan?”
But the deeper transformation wasn’t about sightseeing. It was about unlearning.
Reading the Air: A Different Way of Seeing
“As an American, born and raised here, I have a very direct solution to handling problems,” Ayimen said. “Like, oh, talk to the person that’s causing the problem and figure out some sort of solution.” Japan taught him something fundamentally different.
The Japanese concept is kuuki wo yomu, which translates literally to “reading the air,” and is more commonly communicated in American culture as “reading the room.” Instead of confronting problems directly, Japanese culture values subtlety: alluding to an issue and allowing the other person to realize on their own that something needs to change. It’s the opposite of American directness, and at first, it can feel maddening. But Ayimen learned to see it not as evasion, but as another valid approach to human connection. He saw how not rocking the boat was advantageous in an environment where the collective is valued above the individual.
“I was surprised to realize that this experience offered a view that was more material than just cultural differences. It wasn’t just things like eating food with their left hand instead of the right. The shift for me was fundamental, like how I view the world.”
This shift in perspective wasn’t theoretical. It changed how he communicates, how he navigates conflict, and how he understands the gap between intention and impact. “Be ready for your perspective on the world to change,” he says now when advising other scholars.
Other Advice for Future Travelers
For scholars considering study abroad, Ayimen offered four pieces of guidance:
Choose your country wisely. Watch YouTube videos of people studying abroad there. “Those videos have a pretty accurate recreation of what life is like, and whether that’s something you want to experience.”
Study the language before you go, even if it’s just to learn the basics. He “vehemently dislikes” Duolingo, but even he’ll recommend it for getting a foundation.
Be ready for your worldview to shift. Culture shock isn’t just about food or customs—it’s about fundamental differences in how people approach problems and life. “Be ready to be either accepting of that or maybe don’t go to that country.”
And finally: If you’re on the fence, do it. Ayimen was torn between studying abroad and taking a summer internship. Everyone he consulted—his Rainier Scholars advisor, software engineers at Google—told him the same thing: “You can get a job later. Go study in Japan. That’s way cooler.”
“And I 100% agree with them now,” he says. “There aren’t many opportunities in your life where you’ll be able to travel—paid for, at a super young age, in a country super far away from home. Take the gamble and do it.”
The View From the Summit
Ayimen is now a senior at Seattle University, looking back at those six months in Tokyo with clarity. He has a few regrets—he missed snowboarding by a week and a half, wished he’d explored Hokkaido in the north—but they don’t diminish what he gained.
He learned to navigate a massive city. That there’s more than one way to solve a problem, more than one way to see the world. And that the skills Rainier Scholars had been building in him since fifth grade—self-advocacy, persistence, the confidence to speak up and go after what he wants—weren’t just for college applications or internships.
They were for this. For climbing mountains, literal and metaphorical. For stepping into the unknown and trusting you can find your way.
The summit is cold and crowded and worth every step.
Ayimen is currently interviewing to work in Tokyo after he graduates this spring. We are so excited for him as he takes his bold step into the future.