Airport and Welcome to Athens!

“Be Yourself; Everyone Else is Already Taken”   -Oscar Wilde

Many in this group of 16 students were visiting Europe for the first time. For some in the group, stepping into an airplane to go to a foreign country was a brand new experience. One of us has already been to Greece. Since day one, I was sure that everyone in the group brought something unique to make a memorable experience out of this journey. Some would bring fun and laughter. Others would slow them down by providing seriousness when needed. At the airport, I observed that we were meticulously selected. Yet, I didn’t know the reason why I was there nor my role in this group of talented and motivated college students. After our interactions for the past couple of weeks and finally being together at the airport, I felt this group was soon to become a very close family that would look into each other all over Greece.

While I was at the airport, I had a minute to sit down and ask myself: Why am I here? How can I collaborate to make these two weeks a memorable experience for everyone? What am I going to do if I don’t like some of my fellow students attitudes? These questions were constantly in mind along the journey. How can this experience really impact my future career and academic goals?

Next thing, we were in the plane, the moment that we’ve been waiting for the past few months was coming true. We had a layover in Germany; so by the time we arrived to Greece it was getting dark. We spent more than 10 hours flying. I had the feeling that we wouldn’t going to be able to see much upon our arrival. I also thought the change of timezone was going to affect my ability to sleep. My first surprise when I arrived to Athens was seeing a mountainous natural environment. I didn’t think the city of Athens was surrounded by mountains I quickly tried to find a correlation to the other cities I have visited with a similar unique view. I thought about Toronto, Boston, New York, Montreal, San Francisco, and Santo Domingo. Yet, I couldn’t remember being in a city surrounded by so many mountains. I was more excited than ever to go around Greece and to gain the most out of this experience. I felt really lucky and thankful for being in Europe for MY FIRST TIME!!!!!