For Sameera Singh, Class of 2022, first year spring was like a dark tunnel with no end. She had just been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and started taking medication, which took a huge toll on her body.

“It was feeling so blurry in my head… I felt so suffocated all the time and I couldn’t go to classes, I could barely get out of bed,” she recalled. “That’s how bad my mental health was. I decided [that] maybe recovering at home, getting some rest [and] being in a place where I have people who care for me… Would be much better than to stay and try to get through the semester.”

She spoke to Kyle Farley, Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, who encouraged her to take a leave of absence.

“He said this thing to me that stuck with me… that you have never not been a student, that’s been our primary identity for as long as we can remember,” she recalled. “And he said, maybe you just need to not be a student right now and that’s fine.”

Deciding to heed his advice, Singh took the rest of the semester off on a medical leave of absence and flew home.

There, she received the psychiatric care she needed, worked with a physician whom she trusted and slowly increased her medication dosage. Having her mother beside her was also a great source of comfort and strength during the process.

Apart from receiving mental health treatment, she spent quality time reconnecting with family and friends as well as interning at a study abroad startup. Yet she still spent most of her time alone resting and working on her relationship with herself.

“I would only see my friends on weekends if they came to visit because they were in university, my sister was in school and all the time my mom was working, so it was just me and my dog quite often. That helped me cultivate a better relationship with myself and talk to myself a bit more,” she noted. “That was a huge skill to develop… because a lot of times you feel like you’re isolated, you feel like you’re struggling and the only person you have at the end of the day is yourself.”

“I think I understood myself a lot better by the end of the leave… I also created a better relationship with medication,” she summarized.

By the time fall came around, Singh felt well enough to return to campus. Since her leave of absence was a medical one, she had to be approved to return. This involved meeting with the counselor and having a health professional fill out a questionnaire so that staff at the Health Center could assess her readiness to return.

She noted that the process was relatively smooth and straightforward: “Most of the time it’s just a formality, because they trust your judgment. If you want to be back they’re going to say, “Okay, we want you back, unless they see glaring red flags in that assessment.”

Upon her return, Singh decided to get involved with the Health and Wellness Committee by serving as the chair as she became passionate about advocating for mental health resources on campus after her leave of absence.

“One thing that I do appreciate our campus for is that it’s very open and honest about the conversation around mental health, [though] I do think that there are a lot of things that could get much better and I think one thing that needs to happen for sure is that we need to start as a community listening to students who are not having the best experiences with the Health Center of the mental health support on campus,” she observed.

“This is something I’ve been working to advocate for this semester and a lot of work has been going [on] behind the scenes to address student concerns on both the admin side as well as the Student Government side of things,” she added.

She also shared that in this matter, peer support is of paramount importance apart from institutional support: “[NYU Abu Dhabi] is a rigorous environment to be in as a student. You need to be a global leader, you have the pressure on your head, so [we need to learn] how to support our things through [tough times.]”

Singh would like readers to know that they are welcome to reach out to her if they are considering a leave of absence or would like to know more about it. She can be reached at ss12044@nyu.edu.