Last week, College Year in Athens (CYA) had the honor of being welcomed to the Consulate General of Greece in Boston by Consul General Stratos Efthymiou. Consul Efthymiou noted CYA’s important history of inspiring students and philhellenes to come to Greece for academic purposes, enriching the country’s academic and cultural landscape.

By junior year of college, many students are thinking about internships, careers, and where they want to be after graduation. While studying abroad may be a step away from normal academic life, this doesn’t mean the career discernment process is put on pause.

Welcome to the CYA winter 2020 session!

Sona Dahya came to Athens seeking, above all else, to learn from some of the groups who have been impacted by global conflicts the most.

“I ended up picking [to study abroad in] Greece…because of where Greece is currently, economically and politically and socially, and to a large extent because it would be really good for me to go there and work with refugees, and just to understand them,” says Sona, who is a business major and criminality minor.

So when Nadia Meliniotis, Executive Director of Student Affairs at CYA, emailed out an opportunity to work with migrant and refugee women through the The Melissa Network, Sona knew she wanted to take part. For the last four months, she’s gotten a firsthand look at an organization serving this population in Athens—and, in turn, how these women influence their host city.

On the weekend of October 27th, some CYA provided the opportunity for students to join an adventure that many have dreamed of but few have had the chance to actually do – hike up Mount Olympus. After 3 hours of hiking, an overnight stay in a shelter halfway up the mountain, and another 3 hours of hiking the next morning, these students experienced the famed home of the ancient Greek gods firsthand.

The stares. This is what happens when you step over the rope into the spaces few go, but many wish to visit. Students in the “Illegal Antiquities” class, led by CYA professor Zoë Κοntes ’95, climbed the steps of the monumental entrance and then entered the Propylaea by stepping over the rope all wish to pass.