When Abir Arabi returned to the UAE after graduating from college in the US, she found herself in a competitive job market where candidates with more work experience had an edge over her.
The Philippino-Moroccan began researching into the professional steps she would need to be competitive in the workforce. Her strategy included reaching out to a faculty member at NYU Abu Dhabi to gain more exposure to research work in the field of economics. While working as a research assistant with Assistant Professor of Economics Wifag Adnan, Arabi began learning about the graduate programs available at NYUAD.
A year later, she applied to join the Master of Science in Economics program, and got accepted as part of the first cohort.
A Year-long Master’s Program
Describing her classmates as “a small knit enthusiastic set of individuals who are willing to overcome the rigor of the one-year program,” Arabi really enjoys the global insight of her cohort with classmates from the UK, Pakistan, India, Trinidad & Tobago, Egypt, and the UAE.
Additionally, as an undergraduate economics major student in the US, Arabi was not exposed to analyzing real-world data, a practice that the master's degree in NYUAD is heavy-handed with. “I realized what I needed the most to move forward was not only to be exposed to (analysis work) further, but also being fostered in an academic community that is really enthusiastic in seeing someone explore this field even further,” Arabi said.
Despite studying from home at the moment, the robust faculty and the interdisciplinary collaborative nature of NYUAD meant Arabi still has many opportunities to consult with various faculty.
“It’s not hard for me to start up a discussion with any faculty member, and they are willing to take even thirty minutes to speak with me,” Arabi said. “The quality of the master's program isn't diminished in any way from, even if the resources weren't fully accessible at the moment,” she added.
It’s not hard for me to start up a discussion with any faculty member, and they are willing to take even thirty minutes to speak with me.
The NYUAD graduate student has her eyes to her future: Learning and reinforcing techniques learnt from her classes to build up her experience and reputation for a PhD program in the long run.
