For the 2024 spring semester, ETSU political science student Hailey Story completed her final semester in Athens, Greece, through dual enrollment program with the American College of Greece and ETSU.

“It sounds funny, but I have known my plan since sophomore year of high school, and Greece was always part of that plan,” said Story.

Story was able to take 12 credits while in Greece including courses that built toward her Political Science major and International Studies minor. Story had four classes throughout the semester with them being twice a week. Each class only featured a midterm and a final and were graded based on the United Kingdom’s grading scale.

While there she stayed with seven other women, six being from around the United States, including herself, and two from Armenia. They lived together in a large apartment in the suburbs of Athens. The apartment had a shared kitchen, living room, two bathrooms and eight individual rooms.

The community that their apartment was in was small and tight knit. Story said that in a few weeks she was able to recognize people when she walked past them on her way to the train. The apartment was a 40-minute train ride from Athens where the college was.

“The people were amazing, so kind and helpful,” said Story. She described how the people were extremely friendly and excited to show her their city.

Unfortunately, Story wasn’t there for long enough to learn much Greek; however, that wasn’t necessary as most people there spoke fluent English.

Photo taken during the Study Abroad trip. (Contributed/Hailey Story)

Story also described how the food in Greece was unbelievably good and stated that she would be searching for the tzatziki she tried on the island of Rhodes for the rest of her life.

She told of going to the same restaurant called the Big Spoon after each of her tests with her roommates and the server, Apollo, being very kind.

Story was also able to take several trips throughout other parts of Europe during the weekends as travel between countries was much easier and cheaper than in the United States.

Story’s trip lasted from Dec. 27 last year through Jan. 27 and she is already excited for her next chance to go back.

To learn more about the opportunities ETSU provides for studying abroad, please contact studyabroad@etsu.edu.

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