At first, it was tempting to put in minimal effort during my study abroad since my grades will not be reflected on my Pitt transcript. After all, I am in the lively city of Athens, Greece and have several island paradises just a taxi and a ferry ride away. I noticed this temptation in myself and have observed others living into it just a week into starting classes. These observations caused me to deeply reflect and decide to channel the dedication I have during the academic year and apply it to this summer study abroad program. 

At the American College of Greece, I am studying Italian (counterintuitive, I know) and modern Greek history. Like I said, my motivation was wavering during the first few days of classes, especially after a gruelling spring semester. A few days ago, I was given the opportunity to meet with my Italian professor for an hour before class everyday. I initially considered this an inconvenience as it caused me to have to wake up earlier and be unable to walk to campus with the rest of my friends. Despite my initial resentment, I took this opportunity to enrich my academic experiences. I came to appreciate the extra time and effort my professor is putting in just for me. I have even started getting to campus much earlier than her office hours so I can make good by my word and dedicate myself to academics while I am here. 

Since before beginning my program, I have sought opportunities to grow professionally while I am here in Athens. This led me to going outside of my program and connecting with doctors from the Performing Arts Medicine Clinic in the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens. My dream is to become a voice specialized speech-language pathologist, and since I was inspired by the UPMC Voice Center, I decided to learn how voice clinics operate within other countries and practices. I have received an invitation to attend lectures on performing arts medicine being offered at both the medical school and Ippokrateio General Hospital. I never thought I would have the chance to develop professionally within my desired field while I completed my study abroad, but if there’s a will, there truly is a way.

I cannot wait to return to this blog and give updates about the opportunities for both academic and professional growth I will be taking advantage of while I am here. I encourage everyone to just say yes to anything like this that comes their way. Never miss the opportunity to take full advantage of your study abroad and education in every single aspect, even if you think it’s impossible.  Αντίο, for now!