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Early planning helped the management and marketing student spend a semester in Greece while staying on track with his degree.
On a typical Tuesday in Greece, Ethan Rauschert went to class. Wednesday meant homework and time with friends, followed by another day of class on Thursday. Then came the long weekend. “Friday morning, wake up and go to the airport and be back Monday morning,” he said.
That freedom began nearly two years before he boarded a plane. After hearing students who had studied abroad say they wished they had stayed longer, Rauschert decided to study abroad for a whole semester. Greece caught his attention, too. “No one else I knew had studied in Greece. I wanted to be different and that helped me decide,” he said.
The Central Michigan University senior from Saginaw, Mich., started planning during the second semester of his first year and went abroad during the second semester of his junior year. Sorting out the details early allowed him to take courses toward his management and marketing double major with a sales concentration and still have room for the unexpected.
Rauschert’s first question was practical: “Where can I go and take major classes that keep me on track for graduation?”
Associate Director of Study Abroad Marko Schubert helped him explore destinations and shared a list of courses preapproved for transfer to CMU. Rauschert then worked with his academic advisor, Lindsay Barron, to place 12 credits into his four-year plan. In Greece, he took strategic human resource management, marketing research, international business, and business ethics.
That sequence of conversations let him see how a semester away could fit into his degree. Starting early helped, too. “We weren't ever rushed,” he said.
From January to May, Rauschert studied at Deree - The American College of Greece outside Athens. The class schedule felt familiar, but he found a different approach to business subjects he knew from CMU.
“A lot of our classes are very application based,” he said of CMU’s College of Business. In Greece, he enjoyed learning the theories behind that work, including the ideas that shape human resource management. In international business, discussions of trade, supply chains, and the Greek economy connected the coursework to the place where he was living.
His classmates offered another perspective. Group work helped him get to know Greek students and talk with them about why they chose their programs and what they hoped to do after graduation. “Being able to see education from their lens was really, really interesting,” he said.
Rauschert lived in an apartment building with other study abroad students, a short walk from campus. Together, they figured out public transportation, grocery shopping, and where to eat. Moussaka became his favorite Greek dish: “It's like comfort food on a whole different level,” he said.
His Tuesday and Thursday class schedule also left long weekends for travel. He visited 11 countries and six Greek islands that semester, sometimes choosing a destination because, as he put it, “this is the cheapest place to fly this weekend.”
A trip to Morocco taught him to pay attention to the culture and expectations of a place before arriving. “Culture awareness in Europe is critical to shaping the visit, but Morocco deviated from a more westernized culture, and that was an incredibly unique experience,” he said. Yet the semester also made him more willing to take an opportunity when it came along. “Just book the ticket, just go on the trip, just say yes,” he said.
Rauschert wishes he had studied abroad even earlier. That might have left room for another full semester overseas. Instead, he is planning a two-week trip to Florence in January 2027 for a food and wine pairing course. For students making their own plans, the College of Business Administration offers scholarships that can help pay for experiential learning, including study abroad.
For students who worry that classes, timing, or finances might rule out study abroad, Rauschert recommended talking with an advisor before deciding it cannot work. “I wouldn't dismiss anything until you sit down with a study abroad advisor and talk about your options,” he said. "It's an experience I am so grateful for, and you will never regret doing it."
Then, once there, he encouraged students to get to know the people around them, not only the places they can visit. He learned about Greek family life, education, and career decisions through conversations in and out of class. His advice brings together the careful planning that got him there and the curiosity that shaped his semester: “Plan early, go early, and participate as much as you possibly can.”
