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Location
  • Greece
    • Athens
Length
4 - 12 weeks
Program Tags
After College Cultural Immersion Post-High School Study Abroad
Need-based funding, General grants/scholarships, 529 Plan eligibility
Health & Safety
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Program Details

Activities
Sightseeing
Timeframe
Fall
Housing
Apartment Hotel
Primary Language
Greek
Age Min.
18

Pricing

Starting Price
9950
Price Details
Room and Board
Visits to sites, museums, and points of historical and cultural interest
Transportation during all trips as well as to/from the excavation site
Field Trips to the island of Aegina, the island of Crete, Peloponnese & Delphi.
Orientation and acculturation activities
Health insurance by CISI (including medical treatment for COVID-19)
Certificate for the excavation work
Certificate following the portfolio seminar
Pre-departure material
Arrival day airport meet-and-assist service
Use of Library materials
Free Internet access in the CYA computer lab as well as free Wi-Fi for laptop users throughout the Academic Center and in the student apartments.
Assistance in obtaining a Greek SIM card
Student support services
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airport Transfers Some Meals Some Park Fees Transportation Travel Insurance Wifi
What's Not Included
Airfare Some Meals
Mar 03, 2022
Wish List
3 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

CYA is now offering two opportunities for Gap Year students: those who are passionate about antiquity will benefit from the “Archaeological Field Work: Excavation, Workshops and Digital Technologies” whereas the “Understanding Activism, Diversity, and Equity: the example of Greece” is an excellent choice for students interested in learning more about social issues abroad.

A program ideal for high school graduates (over 18 years old) who want to take a break before college/university in order to engage in educational, cultural, and physical activities on subjects of interest to them – an exceptional way to enrich academic and life experiences.

Trips to the island of Aegina, the island of Crete, Delphi and the Peloponnese will allow the broadening of perspective and expansion of worldview.

This program is no longer offered. View more programs from CYA (College Year in Athens).

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CYA Gap Year Program

Diversity & Inclusion 💙

Our page on diversity in contemporary Greek society gives a little more background on the local context regarding race and ethnicity. We would also be happy to put you in touch with a CYA alum of a similar background, so you have the chance to chat with another student about how the experience was for them.
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Our page on diversity in contemporary Greek society gives a little more background on LGBTQIA+ issues in Greece. We would also be happy to put you in touch with an LGBTQIA+ CYA alum, so you have the chance to chat with another student about how the experience was for them.
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CYA will work with both you and your home institution if you have disabilities or are alter-abled, and need accommodations as part of your study abroad with us. It is important to be in communication so that we can plan together, and ensure that your experience is a success. We would also be happy to put you in touch with a CYA alum, so you have the chance to chat with another student about how the experience was for them.
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Program Highlights

  • Visits to sites, museums, and points of historical and cultural interest: the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, Historical Walking tour of Athens, Graffiti Tour of Athens.
  • Visits to landmarks and points of interest such as the Greek Parliament, the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center.
  • e-Portfolio Workshop: a key element in the documentation of work done by all students while studying, traveling, volunteering or interning, whether at home or abroad.
  • Opportunity to volunteer for an organization actively involved with issues related to working with refugees, protecting the environment, supporting human rights, or other similar concerns.
  • Explore Athens, a modern & vibrant city where today's life is intertwined with its glorious past.

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Questions & Answers

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Popi Baloglou

Program
CYA - Gap Year Program in Greece
Job Title
Director of Housing and Catering
Popi Baloglu supervises the dining room and is responsible for the general maintenance of the CYA apartments. A Greek who was born in Istanbul, Ms. Baloglu also lived in South Africa and the United States. She studied engineering drafting and worked as a draftsman for eight years. She came to Greece and joined CYA in 1988.

What is your favorite travel memory?

It’s a complex question that lacks a single answer. Trying to get a sense of what solidifies a moment into an unforgettable memory, it’s easier to start with the Princes' Islands summer vacations in Istabul as a child; full of lovely late-19th-century villas and palazzos, as well as pine groves, monasteries and beaches, making them ideal for nature walks and sunbathing. It's a gem with Edwardian elegance.

Also visiting Kruger National Park which, for many, is a bucket-list destination, a glimpse of wild Africa. The scenery was breath-taking; having stopped at the top of a hill, with a beautiful plain full of springboks and just opposite us, another hill, at the top of which is a lion, which aims at its prey against the backdrop of an iconic sunset.

Subsequently, living in Boston the major college town I would like to mention Universities, Plymouth National Wax Museum, Buildings’ featuring impressive Architecture, the best clam chowder I ever tasted, my epic road trip from Sacramento to Boston and last but not least, shovelling snow.

Ending with my favourite travel memory in Greece, I come to the following conclusion: People with Philotimo? Islands? The simple pleasures of food, drinking, or friends? The warmth of the sun on my skin, or my feet on the ground? All together but then again, too few to mention…

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

My remarkable journey at CYA started 33 years ago. Working for the company has been an incredibly rewarding opportunity because I’ve always dreamt of a work environment that combines Greece and abroad. I have been developing myself both in my personal and my career life by constantly expanding my knowledge horizon, net-working with new people, understanding young people’s psychology and bridging up the generation gap.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

There have been countless students over the years that have returned to visit Greece and CYA, but what is the most rewarding is to see how they express greater personal and professional confidence and at the same time cultivating a love for Greece and facilitating connections with CYA that last. It’s really an honour to have been a part of that!

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

Tough choice – History… Byzantine History in Fall Semester. The program reveals this great civilization's rise to military and cultural supremacy, its spectacular destruction by the Fourth Crusade, and its revival and final conquest in 1453. In my opinion History and Religion are sources of Hellenic Identity.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Corporate culture. I’m talking about values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that characterize our organization and define its nature. At CYA, student and employee’s success and satisfaction are the top two priorities- they go hand-in-hand, and as they build each other up, they create an external and internal army of ambassadors. Both students and employees feel valued in all aspects of their lives, including not only their professional but also their personal aspirations.

CYA team get downright ecstatic whenever there’s a problem to solve. There have been some anguished moments in the past such as the Gulf War in 1990, the earthquake in Athens in 1999, 11 September 2001, the 2008 economic crisis, to name a few; the current Covid-19 situation is peculiar, in many terms- social isolation, quarantine and the unpredictable duration; still indefinite. I couldn't be more proud of my co-workers, as well as of the Fall 2020 semester students whose only motivation to visit our program was their academical curiosity, true desire and quest for knowledge embracing the experience of learning outside of their comfort zone.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

A great team prioritized by a leader who puts the company first and supports team’s ideas and creativity. Also, co-working with capable and committed people who are able to focus on the big picture while directing the small one and have a welcoming and friendly nature inside us. “Home” is the place where a person lives, or a congenial environment. That is exactly what most of us feel about our workplace. At the end of the day, it makes me happy and I look forward to coming back to the office the next day to be with my favorite people, it feels like my second home here.

About CYA (College Year in Athens)

CYA (College Year in Athens) is a non-profit educational institution that has been acting as a cultural and educational bridge between the U.S. and Greece for nearly 60 years. Our study abroad program helps students to develop new perspectives on the world, their own countries and themselves. CYA offers outstanding academic programs (semester, year...

  • Go Overseas Award
  • Go Overseas Award
  • Go Overseas Award
  • Go Overseas Award

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