“One day, I went to hug my mom, and she stopped and told me, Your hug changed. Have you been hugging other girls on campus?” recounted Mohammed Al-Blooshi, Class of 2019. His example was just one of many that highlight how different it can be can be for students to attend NYU Abu Dhabi when their families, either Emirati or foreign, live in the UAE.

No family is the same, of course, but certain common threads emerge among the students interviewed. Most common was the struggle to maintain a balance between meeting familial expectations at home and nurturing the new relationships found on campus. With home just a short drive away, many parents expect students to regularly come back home for the weekend.

“I have a different life on campus, a different life at home, a different life at my extended family’s home,” said Al-Blooshi.

The fact that many local students leave every weekend makes it tough to build on the friendships formed in class.

“I feel like [it] limits the total university experience, because it is not only academics,” said Sohail Bagheri, Class of 2020. “Especially [at] NYUAD, definitely more than half [of university life] is through student life and other activities on campus.”

Some students also mentioned that their families, especially relatives beyond their immediate family, are not always aware of the academic rigor that NYUAD demands or the difficulty of balancing work and social life.

In addition to the weekends away and the workload, other issues arise when local students try to build upon the relationships they have formed on campus.

For Amal Mohammed, Class of 2019, a main concern is maintaining religious and cultural values while still getting to experience the diversity of NYUAD.

“Guys and girls would go out together, and I thought, Oh my gosh, I won’t be able to make friends because I am not allowed to go out with guys!” said Mohammed. “I did not want to lose my culture, lose my religious values, but at the same time I wanted to fit in.”

Emiratis noted that their classmates’ attitudes could affect how easily friendships are formed. Specifically, many felt that they are treated differently when wearing an abaya or kandura versus what might be considered western clothing. Female students remember classmates not recognizing them without the sheila while male students felt that others approached them less when they were wearing the kandura.

Yet for some Emirati students, the problem was not adapting to the cultural diversity of NYUAD. Instead, they struggled to find their footing among their fellow nationals on campus.

"I found that the Emiratis on Saadiyat that I met are a lot more conservative than I was used to," said Amal Al-Murr, Class of 2020. "Even though I felt like they would be a lot like me, they were not even close to what I expected."

Though she formed close relationships with her first year roommates, she cites her decision to live in visitation dorms as a primary barrier to not integrating with other female Emirati students, who mostly lived in non-visitation.

The co-ed aspect of NYUAD is often a major drawback for Emirati and other local students.

Many high schools and universities in the country are gender-segregated, or even if they are co-ed, housing is much more segregated than it is at NYUAD. NYUAD’s single non-visitation dorm is not always enough for everyone. Along with the general openness of the university, having mixed classes and no curfew is a deal breaker for many potential students and their families.

Still, most current students did not experience any pushback from their own parents over the issue of segregation.

As Tariq Abbasi, Class of 2021 put it, “Most parents do realize that eventually, they are going to be in a co-ed environment. You can’t keep them segregated forever.”

Beyond just the co-ed environment, the liberal values of the university are also a factor many students grapple with, both when applying and attending.

“The same culture shock that may be felt by international students in coming here is the culture shock that UAE students feel when interacting with these international students,” said Bagheri.

The culture shock can range from bigger issues like being confronted about UAE labor rights or openly discussing sex or alcohol to smaller issues like how one dresses or talks to professors.

Sometimes, the cultural differences seem greater because of the lack of interaction between local students and others.

“The biggest thing I have sensed is a hesitancy to really engage with the local population and actually learn [about] what people are, in fear of offending,” said Sadaf Habib, Class of 2020.

With programs like Sufara’a or SLICE, students get the chance to engage with each other in meaningful ways in a safer setting where they ideally feel more comfortable asking questions.

The existence of these programs also signals the mutual desire of the administration and student body for increased intercultural interaction. Many Emiratis welcome that opportunity, even if it challenges their assumptions.

"I really believe everyone has to voice an opinion, good or bad," said Al-Blooshi. "And then, it is my job as a UAE citizen to correct you if you are wrong. [If] it's something I am not aware of, then maybe when I am aware of it, it is something I can change. But excessive criticism is bad. Because whether it is constructive or destructive criticism, it generates hate.”

Other students echo his sentiments, adding that they feel like students are sometimes not respectful enough of local laws and norms.

"Whatever country you go to, you have to respect the laws of it," said Mohammed. "When you come to the country, you come in knowing [that] you make a sort of agreement that you will abide by the laws of the country. Even if it is not what I am used to, I will abide by it."

Despite some of these difficulties, local students expressed a love for NYUAD and are happy to be here. Many of their families see that and have learned to accept and love NYUAD as well, just like Al-Blooshi's family did.

"At first, they thought that this place was so American, and that I was changing my views, and that I was becoming so lost,” he said. “They weren't really approving of it at the beginning, but then when I embraced myself and what I stand for, not what society stands for, they started to understand why I love this place."