One of the brightest FLEX alumni in Nizhny Novgorod Anastasia Steshina was admitted to New York University, the largest private American university. She is going to spend next four years studying Liberal Arts in the NYU international campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Anastasia got the good news about the enrollment after the first Candidate Weekend in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 8-11. Despite the fact that the competition was very intense, she proved to be the one to meet the requirements of the university administration during Early DecisionI.

Anastasia admits that she has made up her mind to go to NYU AD during his exchange year in the US. She first learned about the program from other FLEX alumni who already studied there, and then she attended a presentation of the university during the re-entry session in Moscow. So when Anastasia got down to filling out admission papers, she hardly doubted her choice.

What made Anastasia choose this university beyond its obvious prestige? The campus in Abu Dhabi is renowned for its internationalism, and the concept of a diverse classroom seemed very attractive to the finalist: “The goal of the university is to cultivate the world's citizens, people who are able to live and work in any part of the world. This is obviously who I would like to become in future.”

The happy finalist is also pleased that studying at NYU AD will allow her to get two absolutely incompatible majors, politics and biochemistry.

The only thing left for the lucky student is to finish the final year of school and wait for the beginning of an academic year in Abu Dhabi, which is obviously not an easy task. “I still can’t believe it! – Anastasia says. I have goose bumps every time I think of the exciting experience ahead. I liked the city a lot – with only 10% of the indigenous population Abu Dhabi does feel like New York. Everybody in the street is very friendly, and the overall atmosphere goes contrary to stereotypes about United Arab Emirates”.