Last Monday, the news I had been eagerly anticipating finally arrived. While I was having dinner with friends, an email popped up in my Outlook inbox from The National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Inside was the acceptance letter for their master’s program, South Eastern European Studies: Politics, History, and Economics. In that moment, my heart skipped a beat, not solely because of the acceptance, but because my lifelong dream of living in Greece was about to come true.
Since my earliest memories, I have always wondered what it would be like to live in Greece, beyond a summer vacation. Even though I tried to blend in during those short trips, a lingering sense of being perceived as a tourist by the locals, has been difficult to shake off. This feeling affected me deeply and really stuck with me after a trip I took in the summer of 2015.
During a transformative and remarkable gap year, I embarked on a solo journey to Greece. It was a time of great turmoil for the nation and its people, as they faced the imminent threat of financial collapse. The situation made it challenging for me to justify being on vacation, while also trying to prove that I was one of them.
I made the decision to primarily stay in Athens and actively participate in the large-scale demonstrations supporting the “No”(ΟΧΙ) Campaign during the ill-fated referendum proposed by the government. Regrettably, my displays of solidarity with the community had a finite duration, as I eventually had to return to the sheltered haven of financial stability that Australia provided.
Inspired by my experiences in Greece, I made the decision to pursue an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at La Trobe University. Admittedly, a sense of survivor’s guilt accompanied me throughout my studies, knowing that I had left behind my friends and family in Greece. However, I channelled this emotion to fuel my academic journey. I became consumed by topics revolving around Greece and the financial crisis, dedicating myself to exploring them in-depth for my assignments. It was during an elective course offered by the Department of Modern Greek Studies, titled ‘Conflict and Crisis in Southern Europe and Cyprus’, that I experienced a “Eureka” moment. Upon graduation, I realized that this area of study was a promising path for my postgraduate pursuits.
After completing my studies, I soon found myself caught up in the workforce, securing what was considered a “good job.” The allure of a successful career and financial stability anchored me to Australia, dimming my dream of relocating. As the outbreak of COVID-19 unfolded a couple of years later, it felt as if that opportunity had slipped away entirely. I often compare those two and a half years of pandemic-induced lockdowns to a prison sentence, where I was metaphorically incarcerated from the age of 22 until 25. My peers and I share the same feeling of having lost some of the most precious years of our lives during this time. However, if there is one positive outcome from my time “behind bars,” it is the realization of the importance of pursuing our aspirations while we still can.
Finally, the opportunity to make my dream come true emerged in a way that perfectly matched its origins. I accepted an offer to join the Master’s Program in South Eastern European Studies at The National Kapodistrian University of Athens, bringing an end to my eight-year journey. As I embark on this new chapter, just two years shy of Odysseus’ epic voyage back to Ithaca, I can’t help but draw parallels between my own story and the Homeric tale. Now, I’m on my way to Greece, not as a tourist, but as a student.
