CYA - Study in Greece (Summer Program)

My experience with CYA was one of the coolest things I have ever done, and I would absolutely do it again, without question. In some sense, it’s hard to fully assess the benefits of studying abroad so close to my time abroad, but it is clear that the benefits of doing so are numerous.

I feel deeply grateful to have been able to visit places I have read about in my Classics courses for years, to see artifacts outside books, to get a whiff of the past while we walked along ancient roads, and to see the remnants of lives lived many years ago, which were not so unlike our own. The challenge the course posed to the dominance of Athenocentricity in Classics will be valuable as I move forward in my studies, but, perhaps the most meaningful part of the study abroad experience was just having the opportunity to leave my bubble and venture somewhere entirely new, which I felt even more deeply following the COVID-19 lockdowns. This is especially true as we see nationalism rising in waves across the world. Experiences like the one provided by CYA can help to counter ideologies that ask us to hate those that live beyond our borders. Participating in a program like CYA gives us space to stop and reflect on our place in this big, beautiful word of ours, and it nudges us to remember that there are people not unlike ourselves all over the world, and the awareness this brings is invaluable.

Upon arrival in Greece, I was immediately confronted by the fact that the people in Greece are exceptionally warm and kind, and they were willing to do whatever it took to help. The taxi drivers, the waiters and shop attendants, the locals I met walking around the city all went out of their way to make sure I was taken care of, and you will also probably find yourself receiving a lot of free food.

In this program, we were able to travel all around Greece. It was amazing to be able to experience the vastness of the country while also being able to learn from a very knowledgeable professor about Ancient Greece. The people were all amazing and it was very easy to connect with them! There is always something to do in Athens whether that’s hiking, seeing a theatre show, or eating at an amazing restaurant. You also have much more free time to explore than you would think so take advantage of that and go see the beach! It’s only an hour by tram!

I found my time in Greece with College Year in Athens enlightening, resourceful, and life-changing. I initially chose to study abroad in Greece to take in as much history and culture and possible and the course selections by CYA allowed me to find a perfect fit. Not only did the living situation and location allow me and my classmates to fully immerse ourselves in downtown Athens, but the faculty also gave us opportunities to interact with locals and learn about Greece first-hand. The actual class I took was based on the differences of ancient greek states based on historical and archaeological perspectives. This focus allowed CYA and our professor to spend most of our class time around Athens exploring archaeological sites and museums which created a fun, interactive experience to learn in. I have also heard that CYA tries to include some sort of travel to various Greek islands in all of their classes to show the students as much of Greece as possible. For my class, we visited the islands of Thassos and Aegina, along with having some free days to travel by ourselves if we wanted to. It was a beautiful time viewing incredible places, eating great food, and learning a wealth of knowledge about the Greek world. I would recommend this program!

I did the excavating in the Aegean field school with CYA and had an amazing time. I was really scared to do my field school because so many of my friends in my major told me how hard and miserable their experience was (with field schools in general). This program, however, was so much fun and not miserable at all. I met so many people from all around the world with the same interests as me that I know I can count on in the future. The work was very hard but I never hated it and we always made it fun. The good thing about this program is that you have so much free time to go explore and experience the culture of Greece. You get weekends off which is enough time to travel to different islands. I do wish they helped you with travel plans a little more (they don't meet up with you until you get to your destination which can be scary for a first-time traveler). I would definitely recommend this study abroad program because they want you to pay attention to your classes but also realize how important it is to go out and experience the culture yourself.

If you have any interest in pursuing archaeology, this is the best possible program for you to experience! I had come into this program still a little uncertain about my academic path, a little defeated after multiple other study abroad opportunities were canceled due to COVID-19, and very stressed out because I had not had a field school experience yet in my junior year of undergraduate. I not only left this program with a very clear sense of direction in how I planned on spending the rest of my undergraduate and postgraduate, but I also made some friends to last me a lifetime!

I had an amazing time on the CYA Summer program 2019! I participated in the Archaeology course about the Bronze Age Aegean. We spent a little over two weeks in Athens, a week in Santorini, and a week in Crete. During this time, we had lectures at museums, at sites, and in the CYA classrooms. The site visits were key to the educational experience--even if you were exhausted from the day (or night) before, you learned so much by being there and experiencing the site. There was plenty of free time, especially on Santorini and Crete, so in addition to learning a lot, you also had the chance to do typical touristy things in Greece too. The free time also helped you bond with the other people in your class! Since the classes were fairly small in general (mine was 16 students, I believe), it was easy to get to know everyone, but also form close bonds with new friends. The apartments also helped foster this, 4 people in an apartment with a communal space, shared kitchen, and bathroom.

The CYA Summer Session in Athens was by far the best experience of my life. I took the Geography of Faith class about Paul and Early Christianity in Greece and I learned A TON and got to see so much! Professor Afzal was super knowledgable and gave such amazing background on ancient Greece in addition to the religion/classics part of this course. Everyone was taking this class with different interests and backgrounds, so he did a great job at making this course interesting to everyone! My favorite part was getting to see SO much of Greece. Living in Athens, we got to really experience true Greek culture, get acclimated in a new "home", and got to conquer foreign public transportation. As part of our class, we got to go on an 8 day field trip all around northern Greece, which was absolutely incredible. We got to see so many different places that weren't super touristy and were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I would've never even known they existed if not for that trip and this program! The weekends were perfect opportunities to visit islands and this whole experience was truly the trip of a lifetime.

My time with CYA was fantastic. I learned so much in my course about Greek heritage and was able to travel all over Greece, including Crete, Rhodes, and Paros. Housing in Athens was centrally located, and the Acropolis was in walking distance. My professor was wonderful and supported me both in the classroom and outside of it. Upon arrival, I was given a detailed packet containing information about activities in the area. My favorite part of the program by far was the travel. The island of Crete was amazing, and Knossos was one of the coolest archeological sites that I have ever seen. I also had plenty of free time to go to the beaches on the islands during my time there. I was able to try a wide variety of Greek cuisine and went to several excellent tavernas that CYA staff recommended to me.