It is that time of the year again for NYU Abu Dhabi. The Class of 2028 just finished a very memorable, yet busy Marahaba week that started on Aug. 21, which was then followed by their first three weeks of classes. The Gazelle asked a few first-year students about their experiences beginning of the semester experiences. “I did not know what to expect,” says Amina Mehri regarding Marhaba week. Marhaba was “more charged than I thought it would be.” she added. While she found some aspects of it entertaining and informative, she expressed that “it definitely could have been shortened” and deemed it to be quite repetitive.

Al Partun Günhan shared a similar opinion and said that “the sessions that we were in regularly ... were quite boring.” Specifically, he said that shortening the duration of Marhaba to a week played a role in this, and he wished that it was longer so that these informational events could have been spread out more instead of packed together.

Črt Čučko felt similarly and expressed that “adding a day or two and relaxing the current schedule a bit ... or just taking us around the city ... would do a better job of introducing us into the environment to give us more time to get accustomed to everything that’s new."

Črt did think these sessions were useful, especially the ones teaching students about “the laws and the different regulations that are maybe different from the ones at home and where [he] comes from.” He also appreciated how students were introduced to different resources during Marhaba, like the Moses Center and the ARC.

While Marhaba was crucial for teaching new students about the campus and the wider Abu Dhabi community, one of its main purposes was to encourage students to get to know each other and make friends. One way NYUAD facilitated this was by creating Weyak groups, by pairing a group of around 10 students with a Weyak leader. During Marhaba, multiple dinners were organized with Weyak groups, as well as some outings such as visits to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

Farah Alrawi found these events intended for socialization enjoyable since she “got to know a lot of people.” Farah said she “got to know maybe 10 people every day” and is still friends with many of them now.

On the other hand, Črt admitted that he made more friends just hanging out in his dorm room lounge than in Marhaba, a week intended to not only give students needed information, but encourage them to interact with others.

Amina expressed that while she did find the Weyak events helpful to make friends, she thought that the mandatory events prevented her from engaging with others as much as she wanted to. These presentations expected their audience to be silent unless facilitating discussion about the topic at hand. Amina voiced that she wished there would have been more of these “mixer” events during Marhaba instead.

Regarding her classes, Amina expressed that while the heavy workload did not really surprise her since she was taught at a rigorous IB system, the number of readings she had to complete in a relatively short time of around two days did shock her.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Črt did think the workload was a big change from high school, stating that “college requires more discipline from people.” Al Partun also had the same outlook on university and was nervous before classes due to the independence that naturally comes with this new stage of life.

However, Amina expressed that it was her third week where the material finally “clicked” for her as she started to grasp the material, participate more in class, and manage her time more efficiently, which she struggled with during the beginning of classes since she was not sure which material to start with.

Farah thought the workload was high but shared that she’s been using resources like ARC peer tutoring, which she thought was helpful.

Farah commented, “All the professors are nice and helpful, that’s for sure. [The classes] are challenging ... but there’s always help, and people always ask [professors]. I could go to office hours, so I’m never alone if I’m struggling."

When asked about the process of registering for a class, Amina laughed before saying that she switched a class five times to get to the Migration class that she's in now with Professor Paul, which she absolutely loves.

Črt also found the registration process “bumpy,” even before classes started, as he “logged on to [Albert] five minutes after it opened ... and [he] didn’t get two of the classes [he] chose."

Al Partun said, “[he] was one of the lucky ones” when it came to registering for classes, as he was able to get into all of the classes he wanted. Yet he expressed that the system could improve since he saw many people around him who could not get into the classes they wished for.

Farah, on the other hand, found the registration process “easy” since she referenced a sample schedule that helped her choose her classes, which students can find under “Majors” in the undergraduate section on NYUAD’s website.

In regards to general first impressions of the university, Amina said that while she thought it was a small campus, she did get lost quite easily. But, she did say that as she spent more time on campus, she was able to navigate around but still cited the parking lot as something that needs “to be fixed.”

Al Partun expressed that “[he] loves the campus,” as it didn’t feel too big or too small, and was a perfect size. However, Farah did think the campus was “big” but believed that the way the Highline was built, being, as the name says, high instead of flat, was “cool ... and different to normal campuses."

Al Partun and Farah both conveyed that while they initially got lost on campus, they have gotten used to navigating themselves around. One thing that Alpartun does need to get used to, though, is the hot and humid weather.

Črt said the campus “definitely exceeded [his] expectations.” Specifically, it was the “modernist architecture” and the “approach to having a lot of natural sunlight everywhere, which [he] thinks helps with the atmosphere created.” Continuing with the architecture, he appreciated the symmetry of the campus and how the buildings have similar layouts. He also admired the abundance of common spaces and lounges that the university provided.

Additionally, Amina said that something that she loves about the university is the library. She thinks it's a great environment for studying and admitted that she practically lives there and spends more time in it than in her own dorm.

Al Partun viewed the library similarly. “The library is my second habitat right now,” he said.

Regarding resources, Črt said he was “really happy with the amount of resources offered to students ... since they really do help us in planning the future."

When asked how she felt about the campus dirhams system involving flex, meal swipes, falcon dirhams, and more, Amina said that she found that system quite difficult to remember and understand. While she felt that the system is very smart, she wished it was “spoken about repetitively at Marhaba.”

Al Partun feels similar, saying that “understanding the concept,” especially during the first week, was hard for him. However, he had no issues with the amount of dirhams and meal swipes given and stated that he “first thought meal swipes ... won't be ... sufficient for [him]” but said that if he gets two meals a day instead of three, “it’s actually ... enough."

Farah said that overall, this monetary system “is good” but that “there could be [more meal swipes]” and that “12 meal swipes, especially if you’re not commuting, are not enough." However, she said there are other options like campus dirhams and flex that she can use instead, which made her think that 12 meal swipes are enough for her as a student typically commuting on weekends.

Črt thought the system was efficient, but he didn’t appreciate that the system was not explained to him prior to his arrival. He did not find the system hard to grasp but admitted that he had luck since one of his friends had an older sibling at the university who taught them how the system works.

While students have mixed feelings about Marhaba, classes and the campus, they are pushing themselves through tough and uncertain times during these first weeks and will continue to do so during the rest of their experience at NYUAD.