It wasn't a chance that brought 19-year-old Mexican-American student Sofia Domiguez-Trejo to Abu Dhabi. When Trejo started her undergraduate studies at NYU, she had already decided that she wanted to spend a semester at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Trejo, a sophomore at NYU New York, has traveled widely — through Southeast Asia at the age of seven, to South America not long after, and then to Europe after high school for three months.
The Middle East was the one region she had never been to, and it intrigued her.
"The Arab world and culture were just so different. The music and the poetry really fascinated me,” said Domiguez-Trejo, an international relations major with minors in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and peace and conflict studies.
“When I started studying politics, the professional aspect of potentially doing research or working in the region really drew me in."
Diversity on campus
Domiguez-Trejo found that the campus was set up so people were bound to run into each other, making it easier to meet and to become friends. “It creates this very tight-knit community that I didn't know I lacked until I had it," she said.
The classrooms reflected the same energy. Seminar-style classes meant that learning came not just from professors but also from the students sitting next to her.
Domiguez-Trejo said learning from her peers helped widen her perspective on many topics.
"Hearing it from a peer, you take it in differently than hearing it from a professor. Both are equally valuable, but it's a different type of learning, and I don't think we get that peer learning in New York,” she said.
Everyone talks about NYU and New York being diverse, but it doesn’t compare to the diversity I experienced in the Abu Dhabi campus.
An environment for discovery
Domiguez-Trejo is keen to return for another semester. “I've considered it for my junior and or senior year. I really loved it because I feel like I took away so much in terms of learning, the cultural sensitivity, and learning about people's religions and backgrounds.” It helped her grow as a person, Domiguez-Trejo added.
Domiguez-Trejo is considering law school and wants to take advantage of the law classes at NYUAD.
One of her favorite classes was Islamic law with Professor Jinan Bastaki.
"She's a phenomenal legal scholar, and I think the class sizes and flexibility that professors have with being able to speak with students one-on-one and to really thoroughly answer their questions and engage with them on an intellectual level is different compared to New York, where (class sizes) tend to be much larger,” said Domiguez-Trejo.
Through her peace and conflict studies class at NYUAD, Domiguez-Trejo began an independent research project examining how the use of artificial intelligence in military conflict may shape the behavior of non-state actors.
"I want to evaluate the effect that countries using AI in their military and in their warfare is going to have on how non-state actors react in a conflict," she said. She will continue working on the project this year and hopes to publish it in a journal.
Cultural learnings in Abu Dhabi
Domiguez-Trejo arrived in Abu Dhabi in January, and was able to experience the Qasr Al Hosn annual festival that celebrates the emirates’ history and heritage within her first few weeks,
Excited to experience the culture of the UAE, she sought the help of an Emirati lady to purchase an abaya. For Domiguez-Trejo, it was a small moment, but it set the tone for a semester defined by stepping toward the unfamiliar rather than away from it.
Spending Ramadan in the city was another unique experience. In the spirit of Ramadan, she tried fasting for a part of the day for cultural learning and being part of a community experience. “It's like one big family. Non-Muslims are there supporting their friends, and it really creates a community I've never experienced on any other campus. I loved it. I wish I could have spent more time there,” she said.
Future plans
After graduation, Domiguez-Trejo hopes to pursue a fellowship, return to the Middle East to conduct independent research, and eventually work in geopolitical forecasting at a think tank.
“I'd love to go to Jordan or Saudi Arabia to do research on local communities and talk to people, learn about their experiences, and pursue some form of independent project in that capacity,” she said.
For someone who decided as a child that learning about the world was the only thing she could imagine doing, Abu Dhabi was never just a semester. It was the beginning.
