Mia Castagnone gives you the rundown from last week’s Welcome Fest!

And that’s a wrap! Welcome Week has ended after four full days of jam-packed, COVID-Safe events. Rain, wind or shine, students made their way onto campus to visit stalls, get freebies and take insta-worthy pics.

Day 1:

Plenty of students, first years in particular, flocked to campus on Day 1 bracing the 30-degree heat that engulfed Monday. The clubs showcase zone was spread across the front lawns and COVID-safe QR codes had to be scanned to enter. For the first time in nearly a year, campus was filled with vibrance and activity. Societies and clubs that have been inactive for several months were finally able to run activities and most importantly, sign up new members.

Events occurred online, with MADSOC (Movement and Dance Society) running a core and flexibility zoom workshop. The Toastmasters society held their meet and greet, while SUCOGS and Sutekh ran party games in the evening.

Day 2:

Weather took a turn with on and off showers happening across most of the morning, but that didn’t stop students from coming to campus. The atmosphere remained lively and the front lawns and Eastern Avenue was buzzing with crowds throughout the day.

Sydney University Chinese Students Association teamed up with SoulXPress for a midday performance. Online the USYD Chess Club ran a blitz tournament. Yours truly, the PULP editorial team, also had our stall up and running on Day 2. (Special shoutout to everyone who signed up as 2021 contributors!)

First year student Yenfay Camp said, “It's been really fun [welcome fest] and seeing all the stores and normality of everything is so nice. It’s been super welcoming and fun.”

Yenfay and Avril Alam said they are most looking forward to experiencing university life and learning, particularly when everything was online last year. They added faculty orientation events that took place the week before had been anticlimactic, but welcome fest had made up for it.

First year students, Yenfay Camp, Zane Ramey, Avril Alam, ZiYuan Ding

Day 3

A rally began at midday that was led by the USyd Women’s Collective. It came as a call to end rape on campus and for there to be greater support for survivors.

Once more a series of online activities ran in the evening. USYD Archaeology Society, USYD Business Analytics Association (SUBAA) and Financial Management Association of Australia (FMAA) each ran a meet and greet, USYD Law Society (SULS) ran speed-friending, the USYD Calligraphy Society held a calligraphy workshop and MADSOC, USYD Wind Orchestra, BarberSoc, SUDS and SoulXPress held Arts trivia.

USU food trucks provided everyone a needed recharge to all members by providing free coffees and lunchtime meals for each day of Welcome Week. If you haven’t signed up, USU membership is free and can be found here (Hot tip: to sign up to clubs, USU membership is mandatory).

Day 4

If you’re interested in political societies, Day 4 was the day to go. But among the left and right wing social groups, were also many of USYD’s cultural societies like the Young Australian Lebanese Association (YALA), Sri Lankan Society, Australia China Youth Association (ACYA USYD), and Korean Student Association- just to name a few.

Labor vs Liberal Societies ran a cheerful debate at midday, which was shortly followed by a demonstration by the USYD Quidditch Club (oh, haven’t you heard? We have an actual Quidditch team).

By the end of the day students flocked to Hermann’s Bar where people could be seen sprawled on the grass drinking beer from beer towers, playing ping pong or having a go at some mahjong (Chinese chess), which had been set up by ACYA USYD. Crowds were also treated to live music performances, which capped what was a pretty incredible week.

Did any of these societies grab your attention? Well you can still sign up to all of them! Every society runs Facebook pages and you can also find a full comprehensive list of USYD societies on the USU website here.

RECAP of USU’s 2021 WELCOME FEST!