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Kylie Laduca

Bio: Hiii! I’m Kylie, a current freshman at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. I'm from the Poconos, Pennsylvania, and majoring in Justice and Law. Having a travel agent as a mom, I’ve always enjoyed traveling and getting to immerse myself in other cultures. When I first heard about Cornerstone Greece, I knew immediately that this was the program I wanted to choose. I’ve always wanted the chance to study abroad somewhere, especially in Europe, and it was even more amazing that I would get to do it as a first-year college student! I am so excited to be an ambassador because I can’t wait to share all the components that helped me fall in love with this program. It has been so amazing to learn about the many cultures that help to make up Thessaloniki, and I’ve even had classes with students from various countries. I am thrilled to be able to share this experience with you all, and I hope you find that Cornerstone is the right program for you too! 

Blog #1: February 17

Hello!! I hope that you all are having a fabulous 2025 so far! I am currently about a month into my semester at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT), in Greece, and I already cannot believe how fast it’s going. I have classes 5 days a week, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I am done with school at 12:30, so I have the rest of the day to explore beautiful Thessaloniki. Tuesday and Thursday are my longer days, but I have my favorite Psychology class at the end of the day which is always nice to look forward to. In a few of my classes, I have been getting to know some of the full-time Greek students, as well as students from the Balkan region. It has been super interesting to learn about different European cultures as it is much different from life in the US!

The beautiful White Tower, one of Thessaloniki’s famous monuments.

One of my favorite aspects of ACT is that they have a lot of interesting clubs and sports. I was able to join Archery and I’ve gotten to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow (and even shoot a few bullseyes!). I also joined the Photography club which is awesome because I get to learn how to use different components of the new camera I got for Christmas! Both clubs are student-run, and archery is even run by a sophomore who has been competing since she was little! I also joined the volunteer group on campus, and every Thursday I go over to the elementary school to assist teachers in the Bridge and Bilingual program which is dedicated to teaching young Greek children how to speak, read, and write English.

A photo of me at Archery practice. I shot a bullseye in this one!

During my time here at ACT, the study abroad office has organized various trips for the students to take during the semester! Recently, we took a trip to Athens, which was included in the Cornerstone program. We got to do a tour of the Acropolis, and its museum counterpart, and we had a lot of free time to explore the beautiful city! On our way back to Thessaloniki, we stopped in Delphi and we got to tour the Oracle and another museum. The views on the bus ride were like none I had ever seen before, they were breathtaking.

The Acropolis in Athens seen from the Acropolis Museum

One of the breathtaking views from our drive back to Thessaloniki.

Recently, I celebrated my 19th birthday here in Thessaloniki, and it was so surreal to be able to say that I could spend my birthday in Europe. There are so many fun restaurants and shops that I have been able to explore here, and I’ve even found a few that I just know I'm going to miss when I go back to the US. I’m looking forward to continuing to share more about my adventures here in Thessaloniki. I'm currently on my way to London, and I can’t wait to share all the details with you all next time!

See you soon :)