IB

Freshman Welcoming Ceremony

12.10.2016

The Freshman Welcoming Ceremony is a tradition that all 10th graders have to pass. Freshmen or foxes as they are called in Estonia have to pass series of tests in order to become „an official secondary school student”. The tests might last for days in various schools in Estonia, but we consider ourselves lucky to have had just one.

Our day started at 9.00 a.m. in front of school. There we met our „gods”, 12th graders, and were each given a fox costume and had a complete makeover. Once we were all more or less looking like foxes, we did some morning exercises. We ran around one of the ponds on our school grounds, jumped and did many more things. The last one had to drink pickle juice.

The second part of the ceremony took place in our gym due to rain. Again we had to face some physical challenges. It was not hard but still tiring and lots of fun. The final thing was giving an oath – that was the funniest and coolest part of the day. At least in my opinion. We had to wait behind a door and were taken in one by one. Inside we had to complete an obstacle course blindfolded. Our day ended with a freshman party as the tradition goes.

It was an exciting day and not as bad as I had feared. I am really looking forward to seeing what will happen next year when I am no longer one of the foxes.

Karolin Linamäe, Pre-IB student