Initiation as a student - rituals, competitions and tests for freshmen

Student rations

Surely, many remember Kuzya from the TV series “Univer” and his culinary invention called ketchunez: ketchup + mayonnaise. In this competition, students also need to show their resourcefulness and invent their own dish by combining two ingredients. Game in a circle, to the elimination. Each participant takes turns naming his dish from any two ingredients (what students most often eat), for example, potato: potato + scrambled egg. Whoever can't come up with something is out. And at the end of the game, the most inventive and resourceful participants will be awarded prizes, for example, packed lunches.

Funny skit about students: Ah, it’s morning...

The presenter goes to the center of the hall, attracting the attention of the audience. He talks about how during his years as a student he found out what is the most difficult thing in the life of a university student. These are neither lectures, nor tests, nor intense sessions. These are terrible morning awakenings, complete with trips on crowded public transport.

And so we begin! On the improvised stage there is a modest setting - a hard bench and a small pillow. A young man wakes up to cheerful music, and I will describe all his actions in the following paragraphs:

• When the alarm clock rings, he tosses and turns and with difficulty stands up to the first lines of the song “Bride” by the Mumiy Troll group;
• He falls to his knees and begins to hug the bench with the composition “Toys” by Agutin;
• Reluctantly, the student gets to his feet and goes to wash himself. The water is rustling, the song “Who Made You Like This” is playing, and the actor feigns self-admiration in front of the mirror;
• Breakfast time! The young man takes the dishes prepared in advance and dances, depicting the cooking process to the music “Song about Eggs” from Disco Accident;
• To the chorus of Vysotsky’s song “Eh once, give it again,” the student brews a tea bag and drinks it in one gulp;
• The guy looks at his watch, jumps up in horror and gets ready. According to the track “Districts, Quarters” by the group “Zveri”, the hero runs out of the house;
• At the bus stop, a student stops, looks out for the bus and impatiently walks from side to side to the song “Someone Didn’t Make It” by Spleen;
• Other actors portray a full bus. They push, hold on to imaginary handrails and huddle closely together. To the song “Without a Fight” by the band Okean Elzy, the hero jumps into the crowd and squeezes between his colleagues;
• To Lyube’s composition “The Road,” a young man in a crouched position “goes” to the university;
• At the bus stop, the poor fellow is pushed out of the bus to the song “Boy” by Zemfira. He shakes himself off and hobbles in the right direction;
• The latecomer knocks on the door and enters the classroom. An excerpt from the track “Who are you?” is played. groups "Degrees";
• The student explains himself without words to the chorus of “Remember Me” by Kai Metov and dances merrily;
• The dean shames the young man to the chorus of the song “The Thief” by Irina Allegrova;
• He responds with the chorus of Zemfira’s “Traffic” and visually depicts all his morning torments;
• The teacher waves it off to the song “Who cares?” Allegrova and points to the desk;
• The student is caught off guard by lack of sleep and immediately passes out to “The Bear’s Lullaby.”

And then the bell rings. The hero of the scene wakes up and runs out of the audience happy, accompanied by the cheerful song “Good Day” by Vera Brezhneva. The audience is delighted!

A real student can handle Chinese

All participants receive a sheet of paper and a marker (pencil). At the command of the presenter, any phrase in Chinese is opened in front of the students (the Internet, a dictionary or a textbook to help). After 20-30 seconds the phrase is hidden from the students. And they will have to reproduce from memory, that is, write the phrase that they just saw in front of them. Whoever does the best job (writes the phrase in Chinese most correctly) will be the winner. And the winner will receive a prize, for example, a Chinese dictionary or a keychain with a Chinese symbol.

Traditional ritual

All newly admitted freshmen will have to undergo initiation as students. This is the calling card of universities. Initiation, as a rule, takes place simultaneously with the beginning of the school year. But sometimes freshmen are given the opportunity to get used to a new place and this event is postponed until October.

The administration and student groups are faced with the task of adapting newcomers to a new life. A properly prepared initiation script is a good opportunity to introduce first-year students to local customs and introduce them to each other and to the teachers.

All universities have different traditions. Of course, each institution has its own customs and specifics. But in any case, before initiating a student, it is necessary to collect all available information about how the event usually takes place at various universities. This is done in order to collect all the most interesting and original things for your holiday. Basically, the form and style of the ritual depends on the university and faculty.

Today, initiations often take place in the form of a game. The tradition is for newly minted students to overcome a series of tasks that test their will, character and strength of desire to study at their chosen faculty. If a freshman passes this exam, he will receive a student ID and congratulations from his senior comrades.

For example, future doctors, biologists or chemists are asked to taste and identify a series of drinks while blindfolded. The glasses may contain water, juice or alcohol. Mathematicians have their own original entertainment. A freshman is easily hit over the head with a textbook for several minutes. It is believed that in this way knowledge will enter the brain. Future journalists also face challenges. They must eat pieces of newspaper covered in jam .

Who's standing behind you?

For this competition, participants are divided into teams of 3 people. Each team chooses a participant who will show; a participant who will “re-show” and a participant who will guess. You will have to guess famous personalities, for example, Kant, Dahl, and so on (it is better to focus on the direction of the student faculty). The participants of all teams who will guess will stand in one row. And the showing and “re-showing” participants will take turns speaking. So, the showing member of the first team comes out behind the guessers, and the “re-showing” member of the first team stands in front of the guessers, facing them. The showing participant draws a forfeit, which will indicate the name of a specific person. Once a participant has read a name, they begin to show that identity to their teammate, who is facing the guessing participants. And the colleague, in turn, picks up the gestures and thoughts of the person showing and tries to convey all this to the public, that is, to the guessing participants. The team from which the participant guesses the identity the fastest gets a point. Then the showing participant from the second team comes out behind the guessers, and the colleague of the showing participant from the second team, the “re-shower,” stands in front of the guessers. At the end of the game, the team with the most points (who guesses the most personalities) will win.

Official part

Initiation as a student, as a rule, has a mandatory program that has been censored by the dean's office. But in any case, this holiday includes various performances, so for its successful implementation you need to think about:

• scenario;
• place;
• student initiation competitions;
• decoration of halls, etc.

The first part is usually organized by the academic or student council.

The entertainment program includes a variety of numbers:

• songs;
• dancing;
• ceremonial performances.

Scenes of student devotion dedicated to the class teachers are held. They may include humorous poems, songs, quizzes - both for the university and for a specific department. At this time, many ideas for various interesting fun are offered.

Solemn speeches for initiation into students are an important part of the concert program. After this, bright, dynamic, funny and spectacular competitions are held. Music, movement, funny lyrics and good mood are an integral part of them. They should be designed so that first year students can see what they will experience in college life.

You can't forget about decorating the hall. A festive evening for first-year students (coaches, doctors, lawyers, economists, etc.) should take place in a beautifully decorated room. Here you can hang:

• Balloons;
• flags;
• posters.

In the hall, decorated by the hands of students, among other things, the prospects for an interesting and responsible student life are clearly outlined.

For first-year students, it is necessary to prepare special presentations. Memorable gifts are a solemn moment. These could be notebooks or diaries. Can be selected based on faculty characteristics. For example, journalists get goose feathers, programmers get mouse pads. These are, of course, symbolic gifts, but still very pleasant.

Newly announced students should not be left in debt . Newcomers can also make a comeback and have little surprises for older students.

The event ends with a presentation from the students. They are given the floor and they briefly state their wishes. After this, the official program can continue with dances and songs.

Initiation as a student in foreign universities

In most cases, only the official part is carried out - the boring procedure of becoming familiar with the rights and responsibilities of students.

To diversify and make the tradition more attractive, universities create special fraternities whose tasks include social life. So, the fraternities themselves come up with a certain protocol according to which the ritual of an interesting initiation into college or university students will take place.

Most often they are distinguished from each other by secret:

• passwords,
• handshakes,
• symbols,
• phrases, etc.

>The power of universities and the connections between generations is very great here. Often the gap between an established businessman and a student of the same university is reduced to a minimum once they find out that they are from the same faculty.

The UK has the most colorful events dedicated to this event. Oxford has a special ceremony hall, the Sheldonian Theatre, intended only for the initiation of students and the issuance of diplomas. The ceremony is conducted exclusively in Latin. What first-year students should do at their uni initiation is listen and cheer. And all students (even first-year students) wear traditional robes and hats.

After the formal part, newcomers can celebrate the event in a local cafe.

At Cambridge, first-year students not only listen to the entire ceremony in Latin, but also take a special oath before the Chancellor of the university.

In addition to the solemn ceremony, British universities give their first-year students gala dinners and pajama parties, excursions and international events.

At one of the universities in Portugal, freshmen are hung with empty tin cans and doused with paint. In this form, they need to march in a cheerful parade through the streets of the city, singing songs. Different houses have different colors, and newcomers receive a ribbon of the appropriate color immediately after passing the test.

In Dutch universities you can see enough of everything: eating cat food, and participating in the “naked parade”.

In the Czech Republic, a game called “Faust” is often played, vaguely reminiscent of “Fort Boyard,” where students must demonstrate knowledge, resourcefulness and ingenuity. For correct answers, they receive keys to barrels with secret contents.

In Germany, it is customary to present awards, grants and scholarships at the dedication ceremony. Competitions and assignments for initiation into students are not accepted here.

At Yale University, initiation takes place in Sprague Hall and then moves to the institute's lawn with a reception and photo ops—this is the traditional rite of passage for students.

Freshmen at Stanford University are required to swim in the campus fountain.

Asian universities do not attach an emotional meaning to the initiation ceremony, but a symbolic and more serious one.

At universities in South Korea, each new student is given a red rose. At Silla University, young people release colorful balloons into the sky and make a wish. And at the Korean Hannam University, students and teachers have traditionally become blood donors on this day for many years.