Office of Study Abroad

Profile: Michelle Zuckerberg '26

Major/minor: Computer Science and Psychology majors, Linguistics and Philosophy minors

Study abroad program: American College of Thessaloniki, Spring 2025

Reason you chose this program: My academic plan was my number one priority since computer science courses follow a pretty linear progression. That narrowed it down to just a few programs that could allow me to finish my major requirements by graduation. I was drawn to Greece because I always had an interest in Greek mythology and Ancient Greek civilization. I chose this program because it had the flexibility of taking courses for CS as well as to explore other courses I was interested in that were outside of my majors/minors, especially since the prerequisites were pretty relaxed there.

Favorite classes: My favorite class was Sea Sailing 101, where one day of the week, we would meet at the marina and get up to 4 hours on the sailing yacht. The class size was around 8 students, and aside from just enjoying being on the boat, you also get an International Skipper's License by the end of the semester (with only one written exam).

How did you incorporate your Brandeis areas of study into your study abroad experience? I took a couple of CS courses abroad, and I think it was actually really insightful how the professors there take a different approach to teaching CS, focusing on what is most practical. In one of my CS classes, one class a week was designated "lab", where we'd be in the computer lab classroom and get hands-on experience relating to course content of that week.

Housing situation: I lived in an apartment-style school housing with other US students. I think there were about 60 of us in that building. There was a bus that would come twice in the morning and drive us back at two times in the afternoon/night. It was about 15 minutes from campus. There were some other sites for housing that had much fewer students, but were closer to downtown Thessaloniki. There was no on campus housing.

What were some parts of your identity that you thought about while considering study abroad? I grew up in Shanghai, China, and came to the US for college. I was pretty worried that I wouldn't be able to find food from home in Greece, but it turns out the Chinese grocery stores' selection could be seen as superior than that of Boston. I am mixed and grew up speaking both English and Mandarin natively, so having to learn another language was intimidating, especially since the alphabet was different. I was worried I wouldn't be able to read any signs and end up feeling overwhelmed. I ended up taking Beginning Greek, and it was really helpful, even just after learning how to read the alphabet. There was also surprisingly high levels of English fluency, which was really helpful. Adding onto that, I was also, in general, concerned how my Asian identity would be perceived. Luckily, I had no problem with that while I was in Greece. Finally, I had injured both of my ACLs prior to studying abroad, and I could only get around with a walking stick, and still couldn't walk for longer than about 30 minutes at a time without feeling pain. I was worried about getting around and missing out on some experiences, which, unavoidably, did happen, but definitely feel free to reach out if you want to hear more about any of these things I mentioned!

Favorite memory: I LOVE cats, and Thessaloniki was filled with them. When I discovered that there was a small Chinatown, I knew I had to check it out. It was the greatest thing that, when I was exploring Chinatown, I randomly stumbled upon more than 10 cats on a cart. I learned to carry around cat food on me since there were cats everywhere, and I had the best time.

Fact about Greece that you think people would be surprised to learn: The so unbelievably friendly people, anyone is glad to help you out! There are high levels of English fluency, and it's a slow-paced life, very relaxed.