There are few things at NYU Abu Dhabi that result in lines as long as the Starbucks queue before 9 a.m. classes; this year, tickets to Student Government’s End of the Year Event happened to be one of them.

Held on April 20, the End of the Year Event at The St. Regis on the Corniche was attended by over 250 students. This year’s theme was decided by the student body through a vote, with A Night Under the Stars winning over Arabian Nights, Winter Wonderland and Spring/Floral.

The End of the Year Event was organised by the Student Government End of Year Committee. The committee was led by Alia Ozair with members Zain Mustafa, Ji Young Kim, Gauraang Biyani and Mariam Raslan, all from the class of 2020.

Votes were held to determine the nature of the event (Gala, Dance or Lounge Party) as well as the theme. This was, according to Mustafa, to “keep everyone in the community happy, from ticket sales to the theme of the event.”

Tickets were released at 6 p.m. on April 12. To incentivize students to attend, the first 30 tickets were sold at a discounted rate of 30 AED, as opposed to the regular price of 50 AED. Free transport to the event and a buffet dinner were included in the ticket.

The committee originally planned to release 250 tickets, a number they thought they would “struggle to achieve based on numbers from previous years,” reflected Mustafa. To the committee’s surprise, all 250 tickets sold out within three hours.

After further negotiation, the hotel agreed to add more tables and expand the event, but ticket prices were increased to 85 AED. This led to some backlash on the Facebook page NYUAD’s Room of Requirement by students who were unsatisfied with the new price. “We tried to make it accessible for all,” Mustafa stressed, “however the increase in the cost of the venue had to be reflected in the price of tickets.”

Hetvi Shah, class of 2020, enjoyed the event. “It was great to have this opportunity to dress up and see everyone else dress up too,” she said. Jacinta Hu, class of 2020, shared this opinion. “It was a fun chance to dress up and see other people’s reactions.”

Ozair was happy with how the event went overall. “People seemed to enjoy it, the food was good, and we got really good feedback,” she said.