Athens: Unorthodox Decision but a Great One Past Review
By Jake Turtel (Middlebury College) - abroad from 09/03/2019 to 12/20/2019 with
CYA (College Year in Athens) - Semester/Academic Year Program
Learned about Greece and history and it was absolutely worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Not super tough but cool material |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Very well run and organized. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Small double but totally not the worst thing in the world |
| * Food: |
Lunch was provided: sometimes great, sometimes eh. But Athens food was cheap and delicious |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Always up to date on strikes and such |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Awesome experience. Cheap, good classes, opportunity to travel. The program provided three field trips and the opportunity for others. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
If you cook in and don't go out to eat and don't shop a ton, very easy to live very cheaply in Greece. It gets expensive when you travel. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $75 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cook at home. Don't buy tons of drinks at the bar. Book flights in advance. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Encouraged because I took a class; if you didn't, not much. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | For Greek? Nothing. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Stay up to date with vocab |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I was pretty well prepared |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Crisis and Change |
| Course Department: | Economics/ Political Science |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Great class and opportunity for outside of class learning. Well prepared, a lot of readings but worth it. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | None. Got em preapproved. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Introduction to Modern Greek |
| Course Department: | Greek |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Greek |
| Comments: | It was very challenging to learn another language. I wish that more vocab was focused on but overall I did learn some of the language, especially the basics to generally get around. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Sports and Spectacles |
| Course Department: | History |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | LOVED this class. All about Ancient Greek and Roman athletics and very experiemental and hands on. Field trips to stadiums and actual lessons in how they used to box, wrestle, etc. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Business, Ethics, and Politics |
| Course Department: | Business/ Philosophy |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Not challenging but misleading title. Very much a philosophy class, though. Not much on business. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
