College Year in Athens SLAYS!

I loved my experience with College Year in Athens. I truly fell in love with the city of Athens and the nation of Greece. The school and the student housing are situated in the incredible Pangrati neighborhood, which many Athenians will tell you is one of their favorite areas in the city. It's surrounded by bars (shoutout to Thursdays at Ziggy, and every night at Chelsea Hotel), cafes, amazing restaurants (my favorites being To Mavro Provato and Louvron), and the famous Panathenaic Stadium. The faculty is brilliant, and I have to specifically thank Dr. Aimee Placas and Dr. Athena Hadji, two of the most thoughtful and inclusive instructors I have ever had. Also, CYA offers three mandatory "field study" trips to different parts of Greece, so I got to visit Olympia, Delphi, Nafplio, Kalamata, Thessaloniki, Volos, Mount Pelion, and several small villages and towns across the mainland. It's easy to visit islands (I loved the nearby Poros island) and also to travel across Europe (I visited Berlin, Barcelona, Istanbul, Budapest, Palermo, Sevilla, and Ibiza, all within the semester). The courses are challenging but not too homework-heavy, allowing for weekend travel and for exploring the city of Athens. Lunch is free each day Monday through Friday at CYA, and food is very affordable in Athens (many of my meals were 5-10 euros, sometimes even less). My favorite thing about CYA was definitely how the program treated us as adults, more so than how American universities do. I truly felt independent and respected. And, of course, the people make the experience! I think CYA cultivates a great student body and I made lasting friendships. My only "complaints" about the program are the laundry situation (the washers and dryers at CYA are in poor condition and you will have to hang dry your clothes, but hey, that's the authentic European experience!), the strict attendance policy, and the over-representation of certain big American universities in the student body (including my own) which damages the diversity of the campus life. However, these are minuscule issues in the grand scheme of studying abroad, and I would recommend CYA to almost anyone. I wish I went for two semesters!