I have always been the kind of person who wanted to figure things out on my own. Even as a kid, I liked exploring, searching for answers, and finding my own way. I would look at something, taste it, enjoy it, and then think, I want others to experience this too. That drive to share good experiences and make things clearer has always been with me.
When I decided to study abroad, I wanted to do it on my own. I started searching, experimenting, and learning everything I could. Then Covid happened, and everything shifted. It brought me here, and by now you probably understand where that curiosity and persistence led me.
I ran into a system that was confusing, designed more to extract money than to provide guidance. Agencies sold dreams without accountability. Students were left misled, alone, and unsure of their next steps.
I self-applied to universities across Japan, figuring it out through trial and error, and eventually earned a full-tuition scholarship to Tokyo International University for Digital Business and Innovation.
That experience changed me deeply. I realized I wanted to build something better for everyone. I wanted to make confusing systems understandable, accessible, and supportive. With that in mind, I co-founded The Abroad Company with Rahat. We launched AbroadMates, a peer-to-peer mentorship platform, and started building ApplicationMate, an AI copilot for study abroad applications.
Along the way, I fell in love with programming, coding, and analysis. I started using my numerical skills to understand how people think and how they make decisions, especially in the high-stakes areas I work in. As my co-founder often says, these are decisions that matter deeply, and helping people make them more thoughtfully is critical. Combining curiosity, technology, and a desire to help people, I realized I could turn complexity into clarity.
This drives me every day. I care about making confusing systems understandable, guiding people to make better decisions, learning constantly, and sharing what I discover so others can benefit from it.
— Mayesha Maliha Proma