Based on your experience with CYA, what are some of the benefits of spending a semester or summer abroad? How has studying abroad contributed to your personal, academic, and professional development?

Studying abroad at CYA was a transformative experience for me, I learned more about who I wanted to be and what I wanted my life to look like down the line. I always knew I wanted to incorporate traveling in my career and being able to live somewhere new and learn the language while absorbing the culture really put into perspective how I wanted to grow professionally. For me learning, doesn't have to stop in the classroom but can continue in all facets of my life, especially after college.

Some of the benefits of studying abroad specifically with CYA is you get a lot of immersion and opportunities to interact with Greek culture. The CYA community is very welcoming and friendly and it helped me feel not so worried about figuring out everything on my own because I wasn't alone. For any situation or concern I had to deal with there was always someone I could talk to who would could understand and help.

What advice do you have for prospective students who are interested in or planning to study abroad with CYA?

I say do it! It's harder to cope with the regret of not doing something as opposed to having done it. Considering that vacationing somewhere is never the same as living there and learning and connecting with the people in a community you join. It's also just such a great chance to get to really know yourself separate from what your comfort zone and routines are. You get to solidify your personhood and see yourself grow somewhere new doing new things, and from there you realize how much bigger the world is and that so much more than you thought is still ahead of you. You'll feel big and small at the same time and you do that among people who feel similarly.

And on a more serious note, you do have to prepare yourself to be open to new things and a new way of how society organizes. Things you may not have realized that would be different can be and are different and you aren't the only one navigating that which makes it easier. It's also really important to have an idea of what your monthly expenses are going to be like and you should definitely err on the side of having more than you would think only because chances are you'll want to take trips to a ton of the islands and that's an experience worth having.

Please select any of the following that apply to you, and that you would be willing to share about your CYA experience with other students:

Student of color, Finances while abroad, Mental health while abroad

Briefly describe a cultural experience you had that was significant to you in any way.

I had the fortunate honor of celebrating a Greek friend's birthday with her family and friends on an island and it was beautiful to see how much everyone is committed to taking care of one another and supporting each other. Community and collectivism are important values in Greek culture and seeing it in action is a wholesome and heartwarming experience that I got to be a part of.

Favorite food in Greece?

Moussaka

Favorite class you took at CYA?

I loved all of my classes!