Spring Break in Athens, Greece

Some students travel, some relax, most catch up on sleep for spring break but for UWG student Lea Edwards, her spring break consisted of a vacation on the opposite side of the world.  

The Study Abroad Program is a program that the university puts on during spring and summer semesters where students get to travel to the ends of the globe. For the Spring 2019 semester, The Department of Marketing provided a traveling program to Athens, Greece, and Edwards could not pass up the opportunity.  

The Study Abroad Program gets a bad rap from students because it has the impression that the program is extra work and takes the relaxing out of spring break and summer. Those misconceptions drive many students away from exploring a once in a lifetime visit to historical monuments, cities and locations.  

Edwards is currently enrolled in her junior year and is a marketing major. She thought hard about what she was going to do for spring break because the past few years she enjoyed the company of her dearest friends at the beach. But when she saw the university would provide a trip for her to travel further than she ever has before, she knew her friends were going to have to miss her this year.  

Edwards left March 14 and spent 10 days in Athens, Greece, the location of the remains and artifacts of one of the oldest civilizations dating back in history. Greece has numerous sites and museums and one that caught her eye was Acropolis in the Parthenon, which is a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. There were 35 students all together on the trip, and they had five business trips that technically was their “work” part of the trip, where they explored coffee shops and olive farms. 

Another misconception students make about spring break study abroad trips is the thought that they will not be able to enjoy nightlife or do what they want during the day.  

“My cousin Amy Beth also went on this trip with me and we had so much fun,” said Edwards. “We stayed at the Parthenon Hotel and every night we would go out to the bars, clubs, honestly, anywhere with drinks. We didn’t have any curfews and also had so much free time during the day to explore wherever we wanted to go, we even went to the beach one day. The wine was so good there.”  

“One of the coolest parts of the whole trip was when we went on a full day cruise to the islands Hydra, Poros and Aegina,” said Edwards. “Hydra literally had no cars and people traveled around on donkeys. It was also so beautiful overlooking everything. Greece was definitely a trip of a lifetime, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”