Our Student Ambassadors want to share their CYA experience and encourage others on their home campuses to consider the life-changing beauty of Greece and its inhabitants. One of the first questions we always ask them is: “What do you wish you knew before starting your study abroad experience”?

In this post, we present to you the top 10 pieces of advice for current and future CYAers:

As a non-profit study abroad institution, we aim to help our students find as many options as possible for financial assistance.

We are in the home stretch! Just two weeks left until we have to pack up and say goodbye to CYA. In this time I have traveled to 6 different countries, 3 Greek Islands, and all over Greece. Needless to say,  I picked up on a few do’s and don’ts of traveling!

Thinking of studying abroad in Greece? Not exactly sure whether it’s right for you? Our Associate Director of Campus Relations Katie Sievers paints a clear picture of what it’s like to study in Greece and highlights a few of the things CYA offers to make sure you make the most out of your study abroad experience in Greece, no matter what your academic background is or how diverse your interests are.

Your CYA Study Abroad Experience begins before you leave home

CYA constantly strives to make the Study Abroad Experience an enriching and happy one. This begins with taking out much of the guess work involved in preparing to live and study abroad. We provide a wealth of useful pre-departure materials designed to ensure your study abroad passage is a smooth one. The thorough pre-departure and post-arrival orientation schedule also helps prepare you for what to expect and allows you to get ready for a period of adjustment.

By Alyssa Tayrien

Pre-Departure – How to prepare for study abroad in Greece

Here I stand, “on the precipice of a great adventure that will be [my] life.” –John Bonet

One day, I told my parents that I wanted to study abroad in Greece. They replied that the economic downfall and political turmoil made for a potentially unsafe semester, and can’t I choose somewhere else? I agreed to look into other options, and a bit later, came back with a potential research opportunity off the coast of Turkey… So here I am, with a plane ticket to Athens, Greece. It seems a shift in perspective can do wonders, can’t it? And this shift in perspective is just what I hope to gain during my semester abroad at the College Year in Athens (CYA).