Freshers ahoy!

Seniors gear up to welcome juniors in style

It’s that time of the year again when degree colleges are abuzz with preparation for welcoming juniors. The seniors are all geared up to throw a memorable party for the incoming students. At the same time the freshers are super excited to commence there college life with a bash. A few Hyderabad-based colleges like Villa Marie, have already finished throwing freshers party while the others like St Francis have it on July 4.

On campus

For celebrations which happen on the campus, time tested activities like Mr and Miss Freshers, Miss Rose and Mr Rose, ramp walk, cultural activities like dancing and singing continue to be the way to welcome juniors.

Nissi Cornelius Luther of St Anns shares “We warmly welcome freshers. We have a themed freshers' party, not outside the campus though. We have a special segment Miss Fresher crowning contest followed by lunch. Seniors contribute about Rs 500-800. We are planning to give mementos to all the freshers as a token of remembrance. This being the plan is far from execution as our juniors are yet to come and we've exams currently. We are planning to throw a freshers party in August or September.”

Off campus

Choosing a hatke location is the mantra this year. Says an engineering student Vamsi Reddy (name changed), "While our juniors are yet to come and freshers party won't happen anytime before December, we, the second year students, have started discussing the freshers party preparation. This year, the venue may be a resort not too far from the city. Throwing a party at a pub has become common." Freshers parties, in engineering colleges, which the seniors throw are off the record and any hint of students hosting them may prompt the college authorities to break all hell loose for both seniors and juniors. For yet another batch of senior students, a resort is an ideal freshers party destination.

Sandeep Agarwal, a mass communication student, shares, "We have chosen Summer Green Valley resort in Hyderabad. There we plan to have a pool party and rain dance. Food will also be available, but alcohol is a strict no-no."

New entry

T Prema says “I'm a student of OU, pursuing my MCJ. We don't really have this freshers' party tradition in our dept. Our seniors never had and nor did we. But, we'd try to break this and welcome our juniors with one. If not a big event, we’ll do something and keep it low. The problem with our deptartment is that we have a strength of 65 but hardly 15 desks are occupied on a daily basis. And, not many turn up to contribute. So, the execution of anything would be debatable.”

Style file

While juniors have always wanted to look their best at the freshers party, this year, the seniors plan to go a bit Hollywood style in knee length dresses. "I plan to wear a decent cocktail dress matching the dress code if the party is thrown off the college campus. If, for some reasons, we only have freshers party that the management plans, I will go for a fancy saree," says P Smitha, a second year B Com student from a Hyderabad-based college. "We will only have a formal party on the campus for which I plan to drape a golden colour saree," shares Sadiya, a B Com second year student.

Budget-wise

The budget varies from college to college. Some colleges in the city have lavish budgets and sponsors for the event. Theme-based parties are trending now and the students are brain storming to come up with new and unique themes for the party.

"Our plan is that each senior will contribute Rs 1,000 while every junior will pay Rs 150. We are 58 in number and juniors are close to 40. A sum of 64,000 is our budget. But yeah, in case there is a need to add a few more thousands, we seniors will bear the cost," Sandeep calculates.