On Wednesday, Hafsa Ahmed will take a short walk around her near-deserted university campus before heading back to her room to graduate online, alone.
The 22-year-old Pakistani student is one of hundreds in the UAE who will be graduating virtually this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Ahmed said Wednesday will mark a “bittersweet ending” to her four year journey at New York University Abu Dhabi.
"It is slowly sinking in that we are graduating online," she told The National.
“Over the past couple of weeks it has been a step by step realisation that it is happening this way, so I’ve gotten used to the idea, I can't change it.
“This whole process has been hard. We are taught to look at the silver linings but it’s tough when a farewell like this has come so suddenly.
“I’ve had friends in the UAE take repatriation flights to their home countries without the chance to say goodbye.
“A graduation ceremony is a type of closure for students, it’s hard to get that in these current times, but I’m grateful for the effort that has been made by our university.”
Studying a Bachelor of Arts in Social Research and Public Policy, Ms Ahmed submitted her final thesis and project earlier this month.
The occasion marked the end of an era for the senior and brought a close to a “memorable, fantastic and emotional” university experience.
On Wednesday afternoon, she will join hundreds of classmates and login to NYU Abu Dhabi’s virtual commencement ceremony to celebrate the Class of 2020.
The event will include a video tribute to the graduating class, an individual degree conferment where students' names will be called out, as well as speeches from NYU president Andy Hamilton, vice chancellor Mariët Westermann and two time Pulitzer Prize winner, David Levering Lewis.
“I am looking forward to it but it will be very different to what we all planned,” said Ms Ahmed.
“We were sent a little goodie bag that contained our graduation caps and gowns, an alumni pin and a congratulatory card from the leadership.
“We were also given a booking slot so we could go and have our graduation picture taken.
“My parents were meant to fly in from Pakistan a week before the ceremony so I could introduce them to my friends and professors, so it’s sad to be losing out on that.
“It wears down on you, I can’t help but be nostalgic about what could have been.”
Ms Ahmed said she will be having a muted and “socially distanced celebration” with some of her peers at her campus accommodation in Abu Dhabi.
For 22-year-old Khalid Abdelkareem, his ceremony has been cancelled all together.
Studying at the University of Bath in the UK, he travelled back to his family in the UAE on March 12 as global lockdown measures began to tighten.
“I was expecting to come back in mid-April but as we saw things getting worse, I brought my flight forward,” he said.
“I left my student halls very suddenly and didn’t even get to say goodbye to a lot of my friends.
“After four years of study and living together, it was a split decision that I had no control over.
“Our graduation ceremony has been cancelled and so has our end of year ball, which is something I’ve been looking forward to since starting university.”
The electrical and electronic engineering student said he and classmates were given the option to attend a later, joint graduation, but he declined.
“The university asked us if we wanted to be invited to another graduation event either in November or in June 2021, but a lot of us declined,” he said.
“Very few of us can travel back to the university because most of us will be in full-time employment.
"It’s especially difficult for overseas students like me. I have a job placement in the UAE that I’ll be starting in the summer, I can’t then take time out to travel to the UK for the sake of an hours-long ceremony.
“Plus, that feeling of being a fresh graduate would have been gone by then. It’s really sad but I just have to get on with it now.”
Throughout the world, the class of 2020 has had to push forward with a non-traditional graduation experience amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
While practicing social distancing, university communities have come up with creative ways to celebrate their commencement virtually.
At the Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo, Japan, mobile robots were used to host a unique graduation ceremony for students on March 28.
The robots had tablets attached to them where each student was in “virtual attendance” via a Zoom call.
At.4.30pm on Wednesday, Katarina Holtzapple, a senior at NYU Abu Dhabi, said she will be watching her graduation take place on her laptop from the comfort of her dorm room.
“I have family in the US and Croatia so I am co-ordinating getting everyone together on a video call to watch the ceremony with me, there will be about 15 or 20 of us,” the 22-year-old said.
“My immediate family should have been with me in person but that just couldn’t happen because of the pandemic.
“When I realised I couldn’t fly back home to the US to do the virtual graduation with my family around me, that was tough.
“It’s very different to how I planned my graduation but the reality has settled in now.”
The fourth year student, studying film and social research and public policy, said she will be in her dorm with her three roommates on the day, but will leave the full celebrations until next month.
“I fly home on Wednesday so we’ll be having a belated get together with my family because my cousin in the US is graduating too.”
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Afro%20salons
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
The%20Secret%20Kingdom%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Matt%20Drummond%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyla%20Browne%2C%20Alice%20Parkinson%2C%20Sam%20Everingham%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
HOW%20TO%20ACTIVATE%20THE%20GEMINI%20SHORTCUT%20ON%20CHROME%20CANARY
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Wimbledon order of play on Tuesday, July 11
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court
Adrian Mannarino v Novak Djokovic (2)
Venus Williams (10) v Jelena Ostapenko (13)
Johanna Konta (6) v Simona Halep (2)
Court 1
Garbine Muguruza (14) v
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
