EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Overall Progress

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Overall Progress

Being almost done with the program, I can certainly say that everyone participating has definitely learned a great deal. We all have grown academically and as people as well. Personally, I think I have gained so much from this program and this experience. I remember starting the program back in Alikianos on May 30th and not knowing what to expect. The first two weeks of the program were spent mostly in the classroom which prepared us for travelling. The first two weeks were interesting now that I look back because everyone was new and everyone wanted to show their nice sides. People opened up over time and their true colors came out. I don’t mean it in a bad way rather in a good way because we all got to know who we really are, especially during the time that we were away from Crete. I got to know the good and bad sides of people and they got to know those sides of me as well. I usually don’t open up to people easily however some people were able to get to know me. I don’t trust people easily and try to keep my life private because of trust issues but my roommate taught me that opening up is not a bad thing. Sharing my personal life is something that comes very hard for me but that’s one area where I certainly improved during the duration of the trip. The whole experience overall is so amazing that there are so many things to say but I can’t even put them into words. My favorite part of the whole trip, that at first, I thought I hated is the emotions. This program is designed to push you outside of your comfort zone and it pushed me a lot at times. I sometimes had many meltdowns and ups and downs but now that I look back at those times it seems silly and funny. Another aspect of the trip that pushed me is academically. It pushed me because I usually like taking my time to do assignments and essays, however, understanding the time limitations I had to adjust which was very hard at first. I learned writing essays in two days instead of a month and multitasking. I thought my brain would not be able to handle it but here we are and seems as if we made it out alive and happy. In the end, this trip will stay with me forever as a positive highlight of Summer 2019 and I will certainly come back to help out with the program in the future.

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EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.