CYA - Study in Greece (Summer Program)

I took Maria Vidali's, Greek Island Architecture, Culture and Identity course in Summer 2022. It was truly the experience of a lifetime and left me with a depth of knowledge of Greek culture, lifelong friends, and memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. Over the span of four weeks, we traveled to four islands in the Aegean Sea, all with unique landscapes, people, food, and architecture. We conducted design labs on each island to better understand specific qualities of the built and natural environments. Outside of class time, I made some of my best friends that I still keep in touch with to this day. My class had around 16 students and we all became a family by the end of the trip. I can't say enough good things about my time abroad in Greece and I recommend CYA's programs to everyone I talk to!

Wow!!! CYA was one of the best experiences of my life! I met the most amazing people who I will have life long connections with. I also learned so much about Greek history and culture and really got to immerse myself into the program. CYA was a supportive host and with the exception of a few hiccups everything went smooth and I had an absolutely amazing summer with CYA. I am counting down the days until I can go back to Greece and see my CYA classmates again. If you are interested in studying abroad in Greece definitely consider CYA.

I decided to apply to this program without knowing much. Therefore, I didn’t know what to expect. However, thanks to the courses I took (REL351 and PSYC345) I was able to figure out what my most felt interests and passions are for a future career. Moreover, thanks to the experiences I have done and my travels I got to gain independence and self reliability. Nonetheless, living in a foreign country for two months allowed me to reflect on my home environment, noticing the cultural, linguistic, social, and political differences between the States and Greece, with a focus on social interactions and lifestyles. Highly recommend!

If you are an independent introvert as I am, you will not enjoy this program. I wish I had just saved my money and traveled alone. For example, when we got stuck waiting at the airport for hours when one of our group’s luggage got lost, we were stuck waiting and not allowed to take taxis back to the apartments by our selves. I had to take another class through my home institution in order to get financial aid to go to this program, on the trips we took, 4 days each, our days were so scheduled that I had hardly any time to work on my assignments for my other class. I received pushback when I asked to be able to skip an activity to do my work and was told I had to stick with the group.

I can't say enough good things about my time studying abroad through CYA. I had great communication with the program administration and felt safe the whole time. My class was a political science course, and getting to explore that while standing on ancient ruins where philosophers and citizens first implemented democracy in society was surreal. The apartments we got to stay in with our classmates were units in buildings that locals lived in--I loved the integration that provided. My professor was so warm and kind and she took us all over the city, incorporating immersion as part of the program content. I learned so much and loved the excursions to other islands and towns we got to explore, as well. I also had the best food of my entire life during the trip. I made friends with people in the program and everyone there was so welcoming. Athens is such a friendly, cool city and having the chance to study there with CYA is a memory I will look back on forever! I hope to make it back soon!

Studying abroad this past summer in Greece was the chance of a lifetime for me. Prior to this program, I had never traveled outside of the United States before, aside from Canada, and certainly never overseas. But I suddenly found myself immersed in a completely new world, so unlike my own, and this culturally enriching experience has forever changed my perspective. Throughout my time in Greece, I traveled across the entire country, from Athens in the southeast, to the southern Peloponnese, to the northeastern coast and back again, learning about and exploring places along the way I never even knew existed. I traveled by bus across the rocky mountains of the countryside, and by boat and plane over the cerulean waters of the Ionian and Aegean seas. I visited every archaeological site and museum housing the actual artifacts we discussed in class. To be able to see thousands of years of history with my own eyes was a truly humbling and surreal experience, one that cannot be accurately described. Never again will I have the opportunity to study abroad and live in a different country, to travel and explore new places for one simple reason: the desire to know and truly understand the world in which we live.

To say my time with CYA this past summer was a formative experience would be an understatement. Spending a month traveling through Greece for the Bronze Age Archaeology class gave me a new perspective on my major that I know will be invaluable going forward, and I quickly fell in love with the country and the culture. It was also incredibly fun! Athens is now one of my favorite places in the world, and I would 100% tell anyone and everyone to take the chance to study there with CYA if possible.

I cannot recommend this course enough! The people were amazing and I learned so much. I did not know anything about excavating before this class and the professors were so great about helping and making it very manageable. I learned a lot about Greece and ancient Greek temples and on the weekends we could explore different islands and really do whatever we wanted. We would dig during the day and then go to the beach the rest of the day so if that sounds fun to you sign up! You will not regret it!