Redshirt junior Chelsea Guimaraes, who is a self-described "traveler and explorer," fits perfectly with FIU's vision of having a diverse and open-minded student body that also seeks to learn and grow with new ideas, cultures, languages and opportunities. 

Guimaraes, who began her collegiate basketball career at Georgia Tech before transferring to FIU last year, is no stranger to traveling and experiencing new cultures. The Almada, Portugal native spent the better part of her adolescent years crisscrossing Europe, as Guimaraes played on her home country's national team. 

"I feel like I am the embodiment of a global citizen," Guimaraes said. "I was born in Angola, raised in Portugal and I now live in America. I've been to so many different places in my life."

Since coming to FIU last year, Guimaraes has felt a comfort level that was not obtainable anywhere else prior to living in Miami. Most of that is owed to the diversity of her classmates at FIU and the relief it gave her to not be alone.

"At Georgia Tech, all of the students were from Georgia," Guimaraes said. "Here at FIU, there's a lot of international students. Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Brazilians – I was just so surprised. I remember thinking, 'oh, so I'm not alone here, everyone is international. How cool.'"

This past May, Guimaraes was offered a chance to travel to Tokyo, Japan with her FIU architecture class. Guimaraes would only have one week to prepare however, but she knew the opportunity to experience another culture was too good to pass up. So of course, the self-described "traveler and explorer" had to say yes.

The study abroad group spent three weeks in Tokyo, taking in not only the architectural structures, but also the vibrant culture and people of Japan. Guimaraes and her classmates were blown away by the brilliance of the structures and the simplicity of the designs. One structure in particular left Guimaraes speechless as the Portugal native was overtaken by nostalgia.

"We visited the Port of Yokohama and I got super nostalgic because it reminded me so much of where I grew up in Portugal," Guimaraes said with a smile. "I could close my eyes and just the feel it – I could hear the boats, the smell, everything. The memory of that place even now is amazing. I was walking around with tears in my eyes and was in love with it."

The Japanese structures were not the only thing that garnered attention, Guimaraes – standing at 6-foot-3 – attracted her fair share of attention from the locals in Tokyo.

"I was stopped a few times for photos by people in Japan," Guimaraes recalled. "There was one couple that stopped me, and the man was just saying 'tall, tall' in English and pointing at me. His wife had to pull him away because he couldn't stop starring. I always stand out though because of my height and hair, so it wasn't that bad."

Guimaraes has had a long road to FIU, but after her experience in Japan this past month, the redshirt junior is filled with a new appreciation for the journey she's been on and where it has led her today.

 "Sometimes you can get frustrated with being a college athlete and all the time you put in and wonder if it's worth it," Guimaraes said. "But after my trip to Japan I had a realization that it's definitely worth it. It made me appreciate my path to FIU, transferring was hard, but it was worth it to be where I am now. Getting to have all these experiences because of college basketball is great."