If you are planning to attend university in Cyprus, there are two things to know. One, expect to spend most of your time studying. Two, expect to spend the rest partying.
Lessons like these become clear during the transition from school to university, a period that students in Cyprus describe using words including “hard,” “smooth,” “busy,” and “exciting.” Most would agree, though, that the university years – in all their jazzed, glorious youth – are as fun as they are challenging.
Take George, a 24-year-old who graduated last month with a degree in economics. Not long after starting at the University of Cyprus, he figured out a tried-and-true tactic to doing university right.
“You get a really high average at the start, and then let it drop slowly,” he explained – a matter of optimisation, so time for socialisation was as plentiful as possible. “I mean, of course you’re going to party all day long,” he added.
George had applied to universities across Europe after finishing school in 2020, but he decided to stay in Cyprus after gaining admission to a competitive programme at the University of Cyprus. He started his degree in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckily, he found the transition to university was quite smooth.
“I didn’t particularly find it difficult, but it was a bit hard,” he said, reflecting on his first few months of university. “It took me like one semester to adapt, and then it was smooth sailing.”
Easing George’s transition were many chances to take a break from serious academics. One of his favourite memories was enrolling in a sports class, which counted as credits towards his degree. “I took basketball and judo. It’s basically exercising and just chilling for an hour. It was a nice break.”
George’s enthusiasm is hardly unique. At other universities in Cyprus, students also report taking well to university life.
Costa, who is an architecture student at the University of Nicosia, speaks highly of his past three years in university. But his studies were never “smooth sailing” in the way that George described.
“The workload is insane,” he said. “In my first year of university, I worked harder than the whole of high school combined.”
“You either have five or six classes, and you have a class every day,” he explained. “It’s a four or five-hour class twice a week. You basically lived in the architecture building the whole first year.”
Costa copes with a simple strategy: he enjoys the work, because he loves the degree.
“Very, very fulfilling” are the words he used to describe his courses. Perhaps unexpectedly, Costa believes that the rigour of his degree ultimately distracted from any bumps in the adjustment period. “I feel like it was a very easy transition because I was always busy.”
Not everyone finds the transition quite so seamless, however.
Despina, now a business administration student at the University of Cyprus, seems perfectly at ease in her student residence hall. But coming from high school in Greece, she struggled to adapt to the Cypriot education system.
“The transition from high school to university here was a bit hard for two reasons,” she explained. “I had to move from Greece. The Greek high school education system is different from the Cypriot one. Most teachers do not repeat the parts already taught to Cypriots, assuming everybody is on the same page.”
Even in classes without this problem, Despina reported that the academic expectations are universally high, which also made for a difficult adjustment. “The workload is a lot. It is a full-time study for every Bachelor’s degree at the University of Cyprus, which means you are a full-time student and don’t have time for anything else.
“Most professors actually advise us not to work if we want to finish our degree in four years,” she added.
Competition is also a problem in her business courses. “University students are ‘competitive’ with each other. Nobody helps anyone else, and most students do not talk with each other.”
For other students, the challenge of this transition lies in the lifestyle changes that come with entering university. While some Cypriot students live at home, others move into student residences or apartments, often their first time living alone.
Michaela, who studies architecture at the University of Cyprus, moved into an apartment when she started her studies. She remembers that the independence of university life was overwhelming at first.
“It’s a whole new world,” she said. “I found the transition interesting, but at the same time hard. Adapting to independence, managing my own schedule, and making new friends all at once was quite a challenge.”
Much like Costa, she grappled with the daunting demands of an architecture degree. “The university workload, it’s really hard. I chose a difficult profession, architecture. We have assignments every week and exams four times a year,” she said.
But Michaela also spoke warmly of the new, exciting friendships she formed as a student. “I was surprised by how many people you can meet and become so close with, like you’ve known them forever,” she said. Across the board, students felt that meeting new people is the best part of university.
The other point of consensus? That summer break is a welcome reprieve. Beers in hand, two best friends at the University of Nicosia put it best: “It’s summer, we have nothing to do!”
