It seems like a cliché thing to say that I feel like this study abroad experience gave me a true understanding of what being ‘alive’ actually means. You hear it from past study abroaders, you hear it from your school’s study abroad counselors, you even hear it from random strangers on the internet but you truly don’t understand how much this experience changes your life until you live it. While the places I visited while abroad were amazing, the people I met along the way are what makes my stories truly meaningful. I learned many lessons from these people, from the experiences.
One of the first lessons I learned was from an Italian woman named Maria in Milan, Italy. It was a weekend trip to Lake Como in Italy and Lake Lugano in Switzerland from the meeting point in Milan. This was one of my first trips outside of Greece and I was enthusiastic to learn from the knowledgeable tour guide Maria. While Maria spewed extraordinary years of experience and knowledge as we drove around the curves of the Italian Mountains and through the Swiss Alps, I was soaking up every word she was saying. Her words were prompt and poetic as if she had given these speeches a million times. Everything she spoke had thought and meaning behind it. But as her final words began to ring, sitting in expectation to hear a cheesy but meaningful goodbye, Maria delivered her final remarks with a reminder: “In Italy we do not say goodbye…” as she said in anticipation. “We say “Ciao,” because we speak Italian, duh.” In that moment of preparation to soak in her lesson, I was met with her silly remarks. Something so simple and laughable was truly a lesson in disguise. This was a lesson of not getting caught up in the seriousness of everything, to let go and just be.
After Milan, I learned that each country and each city teaches you something so vague, yet so important, an inevitable reminder at the end of each trip. A bittersweet goodbye. Each farewell is delivered in its own dialect but always carries the same painstaking waves of joyous memories from your time there. Maria from Milan taught me to let go of the seriousness, Giagia from Tinos Island in Greece proved that it is a small world, Gabe from London showed me it doesn’t take an expensive mode of transportation to see the best parts of a city and Nadja from Salzburg taught me just how easy a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. While I went into each country and city with the expectations of immersing myself in its deep-rooted history, its perfectly crafted recipes, and its god given scenery, I never expected each goodbye to be so hard.
The hardest goodbye of them all was the place where I spent most of my time. The place I called home for four months. A little town in Athens, Greece called Agia Paraskevi. Where La Kremma, the little gelato shop on the corner, owned by Kostas and Lana is where you can find 3.90€ gyros at Pita Pan, where you can sing your heart out on Karaoke nights at Captain Bill. But none of those places hold the memories like Achilleos 3, where my 11 incredible roommates, my 3 favorite RAs, and a bunch of other friends found ourselves calling home. This building full of strangers turned out to be the best lesson I have ever learned. And the hardest goodbye I have ever had to say. Individuals from the States with extremely different backgrounds, rich lived experiences, all studying a vast plethora of subjects united by one thing: a chance to be a Greek local for several months. I can sit here and confidently say that every person I met in Greece left me with a gift; a lesson whether it be simple or complex or something in between. I came to Greece with seriousness, intentions, and eagerness and I left with fulfillment, gratitude, and a hankering heartache from a bittersweet goodbye. Greece woke me up, it gave me the chance to learn what it means to live. Winnie the Pooh once said something that really resonates with me now: he said, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
My advice to someone who is thinking about studying abroad, just say “YES.” Have no regrets. Money comes and goes; but memories are forever. My words are just words to you right now so take the step and learn for yourself what it means to be alive.
Skye Tran (BS Computer Science – Software Systems) spent the Fall 2025 semester studying abroad in Athens, Greece at The American College of Greece. Skye had the following to say about studying abroad, “Money comes back; memories don’t. Money is an important factor in reality but memories… memories are the most important factor in truly living. Say “YES,” because when will you ever be in your 20s, riding a camel in the desert with strangers (turned best friends) you met while living in on a different continent?”
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