21/09/2018
As every other institution with a long and rich history, A. Butlerov Institute of Chemistry has its own traditions. One of them is an annual Student Initiation Ceremony, which unites students of all courses from 1st to 5th and ties them together – one can even think of it as a big "get-to-know-each-other" party!
This ceremony takes place on the first weekend after the first week of studying at the Institute, usually on Sundays. Freshmen are invited to come to the square in front of the Institute early in the morning, where they are warmly greeted by the upper-year students. Everybody is hanging out, chatting and playing funny games – all of that is to make new friends and good connections, and also to wait long enough for every interested student to come over.
After everyone arrives, the laughing crowd quickly makes its way to the bus station and takes an approx. twenty-minutes ride to a beautiful forest not so far from the city of Kazan.
There they have a group picture taken, and after that everybody is divided into mixed groups of a smaller size. Each group then plays various team-building games which are aimed at letting everyone get to know each other on the course, make new friends and also express themselves. The games always make freshmen understand how important it is to support each other – both physically and mentally, and how immensely this understanding will help them later in their future.
After playing the games on the open air and getting to know each other much better than even several hours ago, students have a picnic, organised by the Institution and the upper-year students.
After that comes the initiation itself – a sacred moment, when everyone is kindly asked to close their eyes and are given a piece of a lemon in one hand and a glass of carbonised water in another. Not knowing what they are holding, freshmen are then asked to eat whatever they have in their hands.
The idea is that a simple reaction, emitting a small amount of CO2, will take place in their mouths – which is basically exactly like drinking a soda. What's important is that freshmen will feel the reaction, marking themselves as future chemists.
The last activity of the day is called "A Fall of Trust". It is best described by its name: one student climbs up a big stump, using a help of an instructor, and then falls back – right into the hands of his fellow students, who all group together at the bottom to catch the person falling. Everybody gets the chance to fall off the stump and also to catch the person falling.
This usually concludes the day, and as the evening falls, the students group together and return back to Kazan. The next few days are always seasoned with many conversations among students, delightedly discussing this year's Initiation Party and sharing the amusing stories of their experience!
