American College of Greece (ACG) is located in Athens, a city that I quickly learned is home to about 50% of Greece’s population. This was surprising to me—I didn’t realize Athens was the largest city, or that the picture-perfect scenes I’d always associated with Greece mostly came from its islands. That became clear the moment I stepped off the plane and hopped on the bus that ACG provided to take us to our apartment complexes.

As we drove through the city, I got my first real glimpse of Athens. The architecture is clearly designed for the hot weather—most buildings are tan and built to stay cool. It was beautiful in a way that felt completely different from anything I’d known.

The apartment complexes were fantastic. ACG placed us in spacious two-bedroom, two-bath apartments, and they did a great job pairing roommates. My roommate and I were both from MSU, and so were the girls we were paired with. It was great being grouped with students from our own school—we could build friendships that would continue after the program ended. Honestly, I love my roommates. ACG truly did God’s work with the housing.

The classes at ACG were just as impressive. Before we even started, they welcomed us with dinner and a campus tour the next day. The professors were amazing—approachable and engaging—and thanks to the small class sizes (around 20 students per class), it was easy to connect with them. What really surprised me was the classroom culture. I experienced a bit of culture shock because the classes I took were entirely discussion-based. The students were passionate about what they were learning, and it showed. They didn’t just listen, they asked thoughtful questions, offered insights, and often spoke more than the professors themselves!

Outside of class, my roommates and I dove into Greek culture by participating in local activities and adjusting to new customs, like eating dinner later in the evening, just like the locals do. On the weekends, we explored the islands of Paros, Aegina, Milos, and Crete. I can’t recommend these enough. The views were absolutely unreal—every moment felt like a dream.

Overall, I feel truly blessed to have experienced Greece through MSU’s study abroad program. They made it easy for me to turn a dream into reality, and I’ll be forever grateful for the memories I made along the way.

Name: Allison Kaczmarczyk
Status: Sophomore
Major: Communicative Science and Disorders
Hometown: Bay City, Michigan
Program: American College of Greece