Horses, Humility, and Writing Your Next Chapter with Mikey Sato

In this episode of Beach Peeps, CSULB Vice President of Student Affairs Beth Lesen sits down with Mikey Sato, an international student from Tokyo, Japan, whose journey to The Beach is anything but ordinary.Before arriving at CSULB as a Business Information Systems major, Mikey was a nationally ranked equestrian champion in Japan. He shares what it was like competing at the highest level, the discipline and partnership required in the sport, and the powerful lesson in humility he learned at just 17 years old. From caring for his retired horse to navigating the pressures of competition, Mikey reflects on how responsibility, resilience, and self-awareness shaped who he is today.Mikey also opens up about coming to Long Beach to start fresh and why that blank slate helped him grow. He discusses landing a job with Bloomberg through a unique bilingual career forum and how CSULB’s Bloomberg Terminal program, supported by Beach Shops, helped prepare him for his future career.From championships in Japan to building confidence at The Beach, Mikey’s story is about growth, humility, and embracing new beginnings.