NYUAD Class of 2021 - Yearbook

write the sum

361 + 88 + 71 + 25 + 0 + 312 + 384 + 173 + 200 + 407

361 88 71 25 0

312 384 173 200 407

students nationalities languages majors alcohol all nighters/student emails to student finance/student shuttle rides/student suhoor mixed omelettes/student papers/student

*numbers are approximate

YEAR 001

As I, a fresh-faced freshman named Olivia, sat in a Baraha room munching on schwarma, I couldn’t tell the difference between the thenseniors and then-sophomores running the Marhaba week Anchorage mixer. The queers and allies of the class of 2021 seemed just as seasoned, confident and knowledgeable as the class that was heading into their final year. They shared the same inside jokes and gossip, and were just as honest and informed about the state of LGBT visibility in the UAE, which was, and still is, not great.

I realized that I was bisexual at age fifteen, and by this point in my life I could not have cared less. I had a boyfriend at the time, and who I wanted or didn’t want to date or sleep with wasn’t (and still isn’t) anybody’s business but my own moving to the UAE changed that.

Hong Kong, my home, was quite traditional and conservative, but cross dressing and homosexual activity wasn’t illegal. Hearing stories about police being called because of a rainbow flag and people advising Anchorage to focus on other issues students face, like smoking or drink driving, set off my moral outrage. When I attended every event that I could (including an eboard lunch with Dean Farley, even before I was an eboard member) it was less about my sexuality and more about advocating on behalf of others and getting a sense of community. I’ve always found it hard to initiate conversations and make friends, so what better way to find a friend group than to join a SIG with such strong bonds between its members?

I was, as I tend to be about many things, very wrong. Not about the Anchorage community, but myself. Those first few months of university were already as chaotic as they tend to be for every freshman, but I also began experiencing symptoms of gender dysphoria. It wasn’t the first time that I had

felt anxious and obsessive in this way, but I couldn’t push it away anymore, hard as I tried. I still remember that towards the end of 2018, I found myself googling ‘transgender conversion therapy that actually works’, and getting annoyed at all the results effectively saying that there was no such thing.

But this article isn’t really about me or my suffering. It’s about the people who helped me through it and continue to be conscientious and caring allies and friends.

Many of them are graduating this year, and I will miss them and their guidance deeply.

It was hard being apart from many of them during study aways and the pandemic, and I feel a deep sense of loss and regret that anybody who has seen a friend leave has felt. You wish that you’d spent more time with them.

I cannot make up for that lost time, class of 2021, but just like graduation as a whole, this moment is bittersweet, but we might as well focus on the ‘sweet’ when possible. There are many others who aren’t graduating yet or have already graduated that I could thank, but the class of 2021 seemed to have the greatest concentration of compassion and conscientiousness when it comes to queer issues. There are also people who I didn’t get to know until after my first year, so I’m sorry that I can’t mention everybody in the limited theme and space I have. You know who you are, and I hope you know that I love you and cannot thank you enough for everything.

Now, without further waffle…

Lucas Davidenco, you were one of the most memorable people from that first Marhaba mixer, and your enthusiasm and honesty was a big part of what encouraged me to get so involved with Anchorage. That hasn’t changed a bit – you’ve been an incredible

chair of Anchorage, and you always starting messages to me with ‘hey king!’ always brightens my day.

Cece Kim, you probably had the most significant impact on my freshman experience both within Anchorage and in the classes we took together. Your insights and willingness to discuss and debate with me in a class environment helped make me a better person, and I am forever grateful and in admiration of you. Also, you’re a bloody good writer.

Nada Hatem, thank you for trusting me with your vulnerability and care – you are one of the people who I will be saddest to see leave, even though we haven’t seen each other in person in almost two years. I hope that you understand just how strong you are in your convictions and honesty, and I think you’ve inspired more people in your activism and art than you will ever know. Your resilience and creativity know no bounds, and I hope that you find a place that you feel at home in.

Hatim Benhasin, along with Anchorage, the Strip Club was one of my main sources of socializing in my freshman year, and you are a large reason for me developing a passion for comics, which I think is going to be a lifelong love. There is a world of representation within comics that I needed, and your passion and willingness to welcome me was also much needed while I was struggling socially and mentally. You were, and continue to be, incredibly funny and talented, and I’ve been so happy to have you as a friend.

If I haven’t mentioned you, please don’t feel slighted. I remember you. I remember that time in my life as well. Most of those memories are full of self-hatred, pain and crippling anxiety, but if you’re

reading this and you know me somewhat then you were probably one of the bright spots. Class of 2021, you’re probably sick of hearing platitudes like this by now, but you really are an incredibly special and smart group of people. But more than that, you’ve collectively changed my life for the better. In a hostile and crazy world, you created a space where I and doubtless many others could feel at home, and I will forever be grateful.

Let your freak flag fly, be gay, and do crimes.

And if you ever need anything, I’m just a message or an email away.

With lots of love, from a man who would not exist without you, Oscar Bray

2/3 Sophomore +Junior

Transformative. If there’s one word I’d use to describe what sophomore year at NYUAD feels like, it’s transformative. Now I know that many of us would call our entire college experience transformative, so why sophomore year? What was so different about it? We all came back from our first summer away from campus, away from the friends we had spent all of Marhaba with, and the friends we had explored the city with. We kept in touch with some of these friends, and others who we wanted to text, but didn’t. We came back as ‘upperclassmen’, a weighty title by itself since now there was a whole new group of people coming up to us in D2 asking how a meal swipe works. We came back with so many thoughts at the back of our heads— study-away essays, major declaration forms and minor crises, FOS and caffeine addictions. A new school year was always exciting, and that doesn’t change, even in college.

But things did change, for you and for your little Saadiyat bubble. There were both old and new faces on the highline now (and some of these faces you really wished you could avoid). There were decisions to be made about which city to go to for study-away and which of your friends would come with you. There were existential crises about whether or not you belong in STEM when it is Philosophy that is constantly on your mind (But would it pay the bills?).

There were emails from SIGs you signed up for enthusiastically last year that now ended up in your spam. There’s juniors and seniors who always seemed to be fighting on Facebook

while you just wanted to quietly ask about that one Economics professor on RoR. There were relationships from back home that were suffering and you struggled to express that to your friends on campus. There were new friendships blossoming and old ones withering.

There were coy smiles exchanged with a cute upperclassman who always makes great points in class (or maybe you were just infatuated).

There was a newfound courage to present in class now, when you could barely say anything last year. There was internship-related stress, and you spent so much time worrying that everyone but you had something cool to do.

There were nights of major FOMO when you saw that everyone’s social media feed looked more fun than your boring night with PJs, Netflix and popcorn. There was your first ever therapy appointment, and you never realised how cathartic it would feel. There was a lot of learning and unlearning involved, of things you didn’t know, and things you thought you knew.

Sophomore year is when you grew into who you wanted to be as a freshman and who you discovered you are (and who you worried you might end up as). It was such a rollercoaster of a year, probably the most pivotal in our NYUAD trajectories. It came with joy, heartbreak, grief, romance, celebrations, anger, excitement— like I said, a rollercoaster. And when it ended, it was accompanied with the realisation that we’re 50% down, 50% to go.

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This section is supposed to commemorate our senior year, a year that didn’t look like we imagined it earlier on. Yet, as what comes next will show, we managed to create memories and make the most out of our last year at NYU Abu Dhabi. Of course, there will be people we didn’t hang out with enough, people we missed before they went home, people we wish we met, and so on.

Nonetheless, the reality of the pandemic, and the restrictions on social gatherings, resulted in some positive side effects. In conversations with many of you, you shared that as a result of the pandemic, you only hung out with people you actually care about, rather than spreading yourselves thin out of courtesy. As a result, you made stronger connections and had deeper conversations.

Regardless of our senior year experience, these photos will take us back to these moments that we will cherish for years to come.

Warmly, Tom Abi Samra Your classmate

MANGROVE MIDNIGHT SUNSETS ALL-NIGHTE EATING IN, E HIGHWAYS MAS

ES, HOTPOT, T KARAKS, S, WAVES, ERS, GOWNS, EATING OUT, S, ALLEYS, SKS

Class

of 2021

SAKSHI GALA Chunky Monkey is the best milkshake at the Marketplace and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

SHEBI NIAZI “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

William Shakespeare

VAN ANH BUI mixed omelettes, pancakes, miso soup, and coffee

ALEX MARKOVA

GAURAV JUNG PANDE 100% of the faculty referred to me as Guarav instead of Gaurav in their E-mails in the last four years

YIXIN SONG Run an extra mile.

RAMON WRZOSEK Treat everyone with kindness, including yourself!

JULIA TYMOSHENKO You don’t have to be a global leader to be successful and enjoy life. I only realized this in my senior year.

CECE KIM When NYUAD gives you special provisions, get amazon gift cards and start your own business.

KATHARINA KLAUNIG

FILIP BENDEVSKI Nothing smart to say except thanks to all the people the put up with my ****. <3

YEJIE YUN Yay!

TOM ABI SAMRA “A wound of the tongue is like a wound of the hand.”

—Ibn Jinni, quoting Imru’ al-Qays

DOMNICA IOANA DZITAC “All humans have the same defect: they wait to live, for they have not the courage of each instant.” - Emil Cioran

EUNSU CHOI “There are only two means of refuge from the miseries of life: Music and Cats!”

-Albert Schweitzer

ADAM HASSAN

KATIE GLASGOW-PALMER Cheers

LEANNE TALAVERA “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don’t know the answer” — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

AMINA BAŠIĆ

LUCY CHOI

LUBNAH ANSARI

JULIE XIXUAN LIU

really missing d2 right now.

Peace out College (Zoom Uni)!!

YAGMUR UNAL

ELZA LEGRAN Actually, life is beautiful and I have time!

LENAH ANKLISS Thank you for all the moments and to the people who made NYUAD a home.

TRACY VAVROVA Some flies are too awesome for the wall.

CLAUDIA NEUMANN “Utopia is on the horizon. I move two steps closer; it moves two steps further away. I walk another ten steps and the horizon runs ten steps further away. As much as I may walk, I’ll never reach it. So what’s the point of utopia?

The point is this: to keep walking.” - Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer

JUMANA AMEERALI IBRAHIM It be like that most times

MARIAM AL-ALI Eventually, all the dots will connect.

VASARĖ KRIPAITĖ The One Where They Graduate Virtually

JULIUS GRÜNER “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied” - Jon Stuart Mill

EINAS ALHAMALI Dedicate your heart.

SHERRY WU (YONGYI) moon child

MOHAMMED ADIB OUMER If you can’t fly then run, always unexpected, no regrets

KILLIAN DUMONT

SUNGMIN SOHN Let me sleep

IVY AKINYI What does the fox say?

“Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!”

What the fox say?

AIZAZ ANSARI No, I’m not related to Aziz Ansari.

MAITHA ALSUWAIDI Token Emirati, signing off.

ABIGAIL SHU If you don’t know what to do in life, choose a job that pays well.

AREN CHEN esse est percipi.

ZOU XINYI

TONA CARAPIA VALLE

Sending out my appreciation for 1 dirham karak

So long and thanks for all the dirhams

HATIM BENHSAIN

DANIELLA ARUINA

Keep on keeping on.

IVORY (HSUAN YER) LEE Thanks for all the ADventures, it’s been a wild ride!

MAXIM BLINOV All people are strange.

People who say they aren’t are twice as strange.

MUHAMMAD ANAS JAWED My experience at NYUAD was incomparable, like a...

AAKRITI GHIMIRE

OSCAR KUMAR SAPKOTA

These four years were about learning to unlearn, to question and to explore.

Here’s to a lifetime of that!

I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.

JONATHAN LEE YUN KAI

ANANIA KOYACHEW

Don’t you just love a good perspective shift?

So many opportunities with limited time, but that is why this world is exciting every single second.

KEVIN LONG NOLL “Within 20 years, everyone will be speaking German. Or a Chinese-German hybrid” - Dwight Schrute

SALMA ZEID Where did the time go?

HIND AIT MOUT Grateful for this journey of growth!

ANDRÉS LÓPEZ SCHRADER Follow your dreams, don’t do drugs, stay happy.

SION HAU

ENSHU CHENG

Have you been kicked off campus yet?

Pre-NYUAD: I want to solve poverty.

Post-NYUAD: I am the poverty to be solved.

AWAHNEE MENDIS

HANNAH KASAK-GLIBOFF

Don’t think twice, it’s alright

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

TINA KRULEC

RUMAIL MEMON Is this a sign to order?

LULU ZAKIA QONITA

CRISTIAN GARCIA

“Bukan laki-laki yang hendak kami lawan, melainkan pendapat kolot dan adat usang.

- Kartini”

I am still waiting for an intervention for my tech addiction.

CHRISTOS PLACHOURAS

SUDARAKA ARIYARATNE

falafel

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn?”

— P&P

MAURICIO YANEZ

DENAT EPHREM NEGATU

Nothing can compare to a Quarantined Sunday Brunch

Chapter 2: Uni √ It was one hell of a roller coaster! Thanks mom!!! and everyone for the support!

SALMA SOLIMAN Thank you to the unforgettable people and unforgettable memories.

“How will they know?”

SALMA HANIFFA Been walking on sunshine for the past 4 years!

KACPER LECKI “Well, I enjoyed that more than I thought I would” - Dr. Sheldon Cooper

J. PRAGGYA AYSHWARYA

WAHIB KAMRAN

Nutella!

Started from a pedo-stache now we here

WALEED HASHMI I grew a grey hair for every lecture I missed

ANITA SHISHANI Grateful <3 “They’re gonna know.”

JUAN PABLO ROSSI “Us here are the family we choose, and I love you all” - Every single Thanksgiving

MATILDE HANDAL RABAJ Go fast, don’t die.

TSION SOLOMON GURMU Here is to finally breaking out of the Saadiyat bubble!

WIKTORIA NIEWIADOMSKA “I’m gonna go get one of those job things.” — Rachel Green

SARA FAKHRY

OORJA MAJGAONKAR

Friends, Season 10, Episode 2, 8:18.

Sorry, I’ll be running late for commencement

MALAK YASSER ABDELGHAFFAR

IVÁN BUDNIK

Graduating with a stomach full of bubble tea, my mind full of cities, and my heart full of people.

FANI M. KANONI Maria is my middle name

NASSER ANWAHI

ALANOUD ALSHAMSI Majored in creative writing and I can’t even think of a quote.

MATTHEW TAN Sand is overrated. It’s just tiny, little rocks.

LATIFA KHOORY https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

DHBAYA Look at us, who would’ve thought? Not me.

BARKIN SIMSEK 62 61 72 6b 69 6e 2e 69 6f 2f 79 65 61 72 62 6f 6f 6b

RISHAV SIKARIA NYUAD was about living for moments that I can’t put into words

ALIZEH FATIMA Suno. Jiyo, khush raho, muskurao! Kiya pata, kal ho na ho.

MAJID ALABBASI It has been solid, very solid.

TOBBI VU Thank you the Marketplace for adding bubble tea in the menu. It saves my entire senior year.

IVONA FELDMÁROVÁ Trust the process.

GABRIELLE BRANCHE

VINCE NGUYEN

Act now, think later :)

Glad I’m the only Nguyen to graduate this year

MYM

ANUSHKA UPADHYAY

This is how I pretend to be frozen when the professor calls my name on Zoom.

Wouldn’t say it’s going well, but it’s going, and that’s enough.

MOUZA ALZAABI Do you guys even know me?

YUANBEI “FRED” FAN “Trust the process!” --- Mikel Arteta

LONG NGUYEN I’m also here, Vince

THAIS CARMIQUE THOMAS I don’t care where you’re going, always look cute.

IVA TOMEVSKA Relaxation Professional

MAITHA ALQEMZI Last but not least I want to thank me. I want to thank me for believing in me.

ARIYA CHALOEMTOEM

MAHA ALQEMZI it’s graduating during a pandemic for me

SALOTE DILEWATALEI VEISAMASAMA Originally from Fiji and with this ‘American degree’ of influence, I AM FIJI WATER

GANJINA ORIPOVA mama am done

FARIDA SHABAN Trust me, my global leader moment is coming up! ;)

MADELINE ANNE HOWARTH Eheu fugaces labuntur anni, sed quam miri sunt.

MENI GUISSOUEGOU DOUBI The Office, Season 7, Episode 19, Minute 14:45

ELENA NEGOIU “All grown-ups were children once... but only few of them remember it.” - The Little Prince

UMANG MISHRA I will fix my sleep schedule next week, I promise.

ABDUL KAREEM KAMRAN Spent more days in quarantine than on my capstone.

SALAMA ALHOSANI

AMNA ALAMERI

“That should be me walking on stage ... not crying fl bait - Justin Bieber ft. Salama (COVID Remix)”

I finally have time to attend to my chronic back pain

MOHAMED M.N MBAROUK

ALYA ALAWADHI Practicing my corporate handshake.

Good vibes, Alhamdulillah.

MAGDA GUŃKA

HARPER CHO

I hope I’m not too late

Goodbye everyone! I’ll remember you all in therapy <3

PRANAAV PARRTH You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take

MAXIMUS NOBES Live. Love. Laugh.

NAVYA SURI “Roses are red, violets are blue I don’t wanna cook - I will miss D2”

SONA SARGSYAN I laughed. I cried. It was fun.

MEHAK SANGANI

AYAAN ALI SHAH

Yes, I was Senior Class Rep while being a junior. Get over it

I procrastinated till the last moment to come up with a caption and now it’s too late

MARIAM EL SHEIKH

KERTU KÕSS

Fake it till you make friendsss

To friends & family, no I didn’t study in Dubai and no we didn’t live in dorms with golden toilets.

NETANYA KEIL Not sure how I’m supposed to sum up the last four years in 100 characters

LINH VU “When I Grow Up” - Matilda the Musical

STEFANO HERRERA Thank you for the memories. Looking forward to seeing what everyone accomplishes next!

AL REEM AL HOSANI Violet pride all the way! Can’t wait to tell my grandchildren about it.

SEBASTIAN CARO Thanks to Abd El Wahab, Brahaus, Miyagis, D2, Khoora Sports, Up and Below, and all the people that made these 4 years worth it.

NURPEIIS BAIMUKAN Strong

Draw your fellow class members that are missing from the yearbook.

Or ask them to draw!

final photo dump

‘Twas the night before Christmas, on Saadiyat Isle No class was in session (none had been for a while); The campus cats purred and meowed as they lay, In hopes that some student would cuddle or play; The seniors were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of commencement danced round in their heads; The birds all were silent, though their numbers were large, They’d been left on all day and had run out of charge, When out on the highline there grew such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

I threw on a hoodie and put on my mask, Then burst out the door and got right to task I followed the noise from where it had begun, All the way across campus on top of D1, When what to my wondering eyes had appeared, But a man with a cap and white bushy beard, While at first I had thought twas st nick or his elf, It turned out twas no other than J Sexy himself.

But he was not alone, out his legacy came, And he hollered, and shouted, and called them by name: “Now, Mariet! now, Fabio! now Katia and Chuck!

On, Kyle! on, Carol! wish Arlie some luck!

Because we’re on a mission and I’ve come here tonight, To say this is our chance, and we must get it right!

Pandemics will come and will go as they may, But life’s great piano has octaves to play; We must give them a sign, remind all of that vision From first years and senior-most members of the mission I can talk about Charlie, and still reminisce On the tried and true story of my very first kiss But none of that matters if under this roof The students enrolled cannot offer proof

That this place and these people can mean something more That beyond a degree, you took time to explore The riches of novelty, challenge, and fear The worlds within worlds of each classmate and peer Your life isn’t mine, I can’t say what is best But I know that your final will be quite a test It will stretch on for years, both at work and at home In Osaka, in Bogata, Lagos, and Rome; With cashiers, and baristas, consultants, and priests With delicate flowers and monstrous beasts; The final will not score your status or wealth But by how well you see outside your own self.”

I stood there in shock, I knew not what to think Was he really just serving more cool-aid to drink?

Is anyone here still that bold and naive To think we somehow still ought to believe?

That’s when we locked eyes, as if reading my mind He said: “if you’re humble, and patient, and kind Take a look at the majesty under the sky And for simply one day just give it a try Cause beyond all the bullshit we might have misplaced This school is real special, don’t let it go to waste” And with that he sprang forth and took off through the air, Both myself and the admin could only but stare.

And I heard him exclaim, as he flew out of sight— “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

by Ian Hoyt

Yearbook Team: Creative Directors: Eunsu Choi, Sreerag Jyothish, Tom Abi Samra, Van Anh Bui Project Managers: Lucy Choi, Yusril Nur Hidayat Writers: Leanne Soriano Talavera , Oscar Bray, Sakshi Gala, Tan Zhong Chen (Zack) Designers: Tonia Zhang, Van Anh Bui Contributors: Alex Markova, Aathma Nirmala Dious Illustrations by Oscar Bray

Photo Credits: Anushka Upadhyay, Alex Markova, Alizeh Fatima, Amina Basic, Amina Bašić, Awahnee Mendis, Aya Afaneh, Bianka Selmeci, Eunsu Choi, Evan Hyun-woo Lim, Filip Bendevski, Gabi Branche, Ganjina Oripova, Gaurav Jung Pande, Haewon Yoon, Julia Tymoshenko, Katie Glasgow-Palmer, Leanne Talavera, Lenah Ankliss, Linh Vu, Lubnah Ansari, Lucas Davidenco, Matthew Tan, Mirza Mohammed Akhtar Baig, Rania Sakhi, Ramon Wrzosek, Rishav Sikaria, Salma Haniffa, Sebastian Caro, Sharon Lee, Shebi Niazi, Sona Sargsyan, Thais Thomas, Tom Abi Samra, Tonia Zhang, Van Anh Bui, Veronica Song, Veronica Wambura, Victoria Zhu