Throughout my time at A&M I have always been interested in studying abroad, and this winter I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Greece and Italy to learn about global leadership. In Athens there has been much to gather about this topic as this is one of the most historic cities on earth and is the birthplace of modern civilization.
As someone that had never traveled outside of the United States this has certainly been a learning experience. The first difference I noticed between Athens and the U.S. is the style of buildings. Here buildings are all relatively short in order to be lower than the Acropolis, and they are tightly packed leading to a population density that is incomparable to anything I have ever seen. It was very surprising to see the volume of buildings when on top of a hill such as Mount Lycabettus. Something that has been challenging is the language barrier between English and Greek and our different alphabets. This has made it a little difficult to find stores or metro stops but has never been too bad. One thing that surprised me about the languages is how many Greeks are able to speak English. Every employee or shop owner I have spoken to has been able to speak at least a little English which has been helpful, and I don’t think this would be the case for a foreigner visiting America due to the vast array of world languages.
On this trip to Athens we have had the chance to learn about global leaders such as Alexander the Great and Aristotle, and what made them successful and important. Knowing their history we have been able to go into detail on the qualities that set them apart from the rest, for example innovation and adaptability. Along with their qualities we have also seen how they were able to speak to and include the masses in public issues, this was one of the initial steps in introducing democracy to the world. These lessons have been valuable to learn and I look forward to what we find in Rome in the coming week.
