Every Ramadan, Aya Berri follows her traditions: breaking her fast with her family, waking up together for suhoor, and walking to the mosque for taraweeh prayers with loved ones. But this year, for the first time, she is observing Ramadan 7,000 miles from home.
Berri, a 20-year-old Arab-American pre-med sophomore at NYU New York, is spending the holy month as a visiting student at NYU Abu Dhabi.
She is building a new family, traditions, and community while fasting in a new place.
“Experiencing Ramadan in a Muslim country is a very rewarding experience,” said Berri. “Everyone else around you is also fasting, and it kind of builds community."
Ramadan Away From Home
"During Ramadan, you want to break your fast and wake up for suhoor with your family," said Berri. "But here, what makes it so much easier is that everyone else around you is also fasting."
At NYUAD, schedules shift during Ramadan. The dining hall fills at iftar, and Berri goes with friends, grabbing a table and saying hi to familiar faces.
"It feels like we're all going through it together," she said.
The food has surprised her. As an Arab American, she did not expect to find flavours that felt like home. "There are specific labels on the foods that have Moroccan chicken, Moroccan rice, Moroccan soup, and it literally tastes like I'm eating my mom's food," she said.
Back in New York, she said eating iftar after classes typically meant picking up a burger or some fast food on the way home.
Taraweeh, the nightly Ramadan prayers, has been one of the more personal adjustments. Back home, it is tradition for her family to walk to the mosque together, pray, and stop for ice cream or coffee on the way back.
"In the beginning, it was hard because I'm not familiar with the NYUAD campus, and I didn't really know what happens here during Ramadan," she said. One evening, walking to the prayer room after iftar, she discovered a congregation and joined them.
Now, she is building new traditions by praying with her fellow students.
Why NYUAD?
As part of the Presidential Scholars Program (a program for high-achieving school seniors in New York) Berri needed to choose a global site for sophomore year. She chose NYUAD because it had many pre-med courses she wanted to pursue.
In her sophomore year, during J-term, Berri visited NYUAD for a week, and loved it.
“The way I explain it to people is: when a woman tries on the right wedding dress, she just knows that this is my dress. That's how I felt when I came to this campus. I was like this is my campus. I knew I wanted to come back for a full semester, so I'm here now,” she said.
Berri is majoring in psychology while minoring in chemistry and biology. The smaller class sizes at NYUAD came as a welcome surprise to Berri.
"I love it because I know everyone, have closer relationships with professors, and feel more comfortable participating in class,” she said. "I'm definitely not used to the small size of classes, because in New York you have 150, maybe up to 300 students in a lecture.
Back in New York, she said she would never think of raising her hand in a classroom to ask a question. "Here, I'm so much more comfortable doing that," she said.
Goals of working as a doctor
Berri's academic ambitions have evolved since arriving at NYUAD.
Surrounded by researchers and attending NYUAD's MCAT preparation seminar, a programme specifically designed for pre-health students, Berri is now considering an MD-PhD path. Previously she had hoped to pursue an MD.
"Being exposed to so many professors doing research and seeing the changes they're making in real life has made me realize that it's also something I would be interested in pursuing," she said. Her goal is to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Her course loads include organic chemistry, biochemistry research methods, and a psychology elective. She said these were the heaviest pre-med classes she could have taken and studying these at NYUAD had "been like a breath of fresh air."
"I don't feel like I'm always chasing the content or studying in a race."
She said that when there is a complex topic, she feels comfortable meeting with professors during their office hours to get the help and guidance she needs, instead of falling behind because the class is overwhelming.
"I see the improvement in my work as the semester is going on, and I've never been happier when it comes to academics, as I've been here in Abu Dhabi."
Berri has also applied to NYUAD's visiting undergraduate research program for visiting students, which would extend her stay through the summer.
A Second Family
Despite the distance from home and the disruption caused by regional conflict, Berri says her time at NYUAD has been "incredible." She plans to return for another semester.
"The Abu Dhabi students have been so welcoming," she said, adding that some had invited her to their homes for iftar.
She has been on overnight desert camping trips organised by NYUAD, explored Dubai during campus trips on weekends. Next, she is hoping to peel back the layers of a city and its culture beyond the campus.
What stays with her is something quieter. "It's like I'm building a second family here with the people I've met," she said.
