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What happens at O-Week…

Day One

Field Party

The Dalhousie University Studley Quad was filled with anxious but excited first-year students for the field party.

After getting settled in their dorms, students kicked off the field party with Dalympics. Each residence competed in different events to see who will have the most house points at the end of O-Week. The event also featured some rad dance-offs, food and a splash zone to beat Halifax’s never-ending heat.

The blue team enters the dance-off at the O-Week field party. Bur, Chase, the dog won the dance battle for the opposing team. Photo by Karla Renic.
O-Week leader Rashaan Malik waves the Smith Panthers flag as he welcomes his team into the field party. Photo by Karla Renic.
New Dalhousie student Markus Kenper said he was having a great time so far with bouncy castles at Dal’s Orientation Week field party. Photo by Karla Renic.
O-Week leader Prenethi Challa enjoyed the bouncy castles with her team, just before the dance-off. Photo by Karla Renic.
Daniel Dandi (left), Jack McMaster (center) and Simon Ormsby (right) are friends from their hometown of Toronto. They came to study at Dalhousie together. McMaster said his cousins also attended Dalhousie which helped him make the decision. Dandi enjoys being surrounded by the ocean and lakes and that’s why he chose Dal in Halifax. Photo by Karla Renic.
Emmy Sharples and Pedro Marchese enjoy a dance together in the quad at Dalhousie’s first day of O-Week. Photo by Karla Renic.
New students follow their leaders into their final dance-off in Dalhousie’s quad during the field party. Photo by Karla Renic.

Rock-it

After the busy day, o-week ramped it up again for their first of many exciting nighttime activities this week. Rock-it featured music from Nine Mile River in the quad. The goal was to get Dalhousie’s new students moving and grooving.

Nine Mile River performs to a lively crowd of first-year students in the quad. Photo by Qendresa Sahiti.
Students get creative to get a better view of the performance. Photo by Qendresa Sahiti.
Dalhousie first-year students sing and dance along as Nine Mile River performs classic jams. Photo by Qendresa Sahiti.
Rhea Proctor (left) and Aaron Greenspan (right) enjoy the music. Photo by Qendresa Sahiti.

“I’m going into engineering at Dal this year. I’m originally from BC. I chose Dal because my dad grew up here and I have a lot of family in the area. I’m most excited to explore the city,” says Proctor.

“I’m planning on majoring in management, and I’m originally from Toronto. The water really drew me to Halifax. I’m really excited to get involved in my residence (Risley),” says Greenspan.

Emma Montgomery and Katie Mal share a laugh at the Rock-it party. They both agreed that the East Coast and the ocean drew them to Dalhousie and Halifax. Photo by Qendresa Sahiti.

Grawood Sampler

A more laid back activity than Rock-it, the Grawood Sampler took place at the same time as the dance party. The campus bar is where you can find activities like trivia, live music, good food and good libations. For O-Week the Grawood Sampler gave first-year students just a taste of what they have to offer by featuring food, trivia, open-mic and sex toy bingo all in one night.

First-year students sit eagerly as they await the next bingo number to be called. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
First-year student, Gabrielle Moulton marks her bingo card. She’s taking integrated science and living in Risley Hall while at Dal. Photo by Chris Stoodley.

Day Two

Cheer Off

Incoming Dalhousie University students spent their afternoon in the quad with their O-Week groups competing in a cheering competition.

Each group went up in front of the crowd of fellow frosh chanting their cheers and showing off their dance skills. Points were given out for showmanship criteria such as creativity, originality and sportsmanship, to name a few. When the performances were over, there was a one on one dance battle between groups. Students were cheering and showing off their skills to fellow students.

First-year Dalhousie students gather in the quad in their residency groups on the second day of O-Week to compete in the cheering competition. The students are waiting for the judges of the competition to pick the next residency group up to perform their cheer. Photo by Maya Palacio.
“The most amazing thing about O-week as a whole is how people start to bond with one another,” says Orientation leader and third-year student, Amir Aali. “O-week has just been energetic, and students love it.” Orientation leaders chant with the incoming Dalhousie students as they compete in the cheering competition. Photo by Maya Palacio.
A dance battle breaks out during the competition. People are amazed by a breakdancing performance by a fellow student. First-year student who Mickenzie Tremblay says, “I’ve met a whole bunch of new people and I just can’t wait for tomorrow and the rest of the school year.” Photo by Maya Palacio.
A dance battle at the cheering competition quickly turns into a shadow martial arts fight that has the crowds cheering for their teammates. The quad was full of unexpected talents on the second day of O-Week. Photo by Maya Palacio.
Students in the quad acting out their chant side-by-side. Meeting new people is an exciting part of O-week and like most incoming students, first-year student, Will Peldschak is also excited for change. He says, “I’m excited about being away from home and actually doing something I’m interested in.” Photo by Maya Palacaio.
Winners of the competition, the Vikings watch their competitors chant in the quad. Photo by Maya Palacio.
Students watching fellow incoming students perform their chant during the competition. Photo by Maya Palacio.

The O-Week group, the Vikings, came out on top at the end of the day.

Playfair

As O-Week heated up, so did the Dalplex field house as it filled with first-year students Sunday afternoon to participate in icebreaker activities. Students were placed in groups that changed every activity to optimize how many people everyone got to meet. Activities included finding similar interest like dancing and creating statue formations with their bodies.

Hundreds of first-year Dal students met in the Dalplex field house to play different ice-breaking games on day 2 of o-week. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
In one of the first activities, students got into groups of three to learn about each other. Groups would jump up together when they found something they all had in common. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Another activity had students pair up with a partner and perform a short dance they learned together. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Students constantly changed groups allowing them to meet new people and feel energized. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Groups were formed to create group statues of different emotions students might feel while at Dal. Here, students were asked to show how they may feel at the beginning of starting their classes. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Next, students were asked to show how they may feel after a few months of being a university student. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
The field house was full of excitement and energy as students met and warmed up to one another. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Pictured left to right: Chloe Blackman, Breton Doucet, Myra Ahmad and Hannah Forsythe. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Students were exhausted from the high energy activities and the intense heat inside the Dalplex. Photo by Chris Stoodley.

Day Three

Meteor Shower

The quad was full of first-years for the “Meteor Shower.” The outdoor party featured a slip-and-slide where students got to show off some cool moves as they slid down the track, as well as a DJ dance party with lots of soaking wet sponges and buckets of water being dumped from the stage onto the crowd.

Sam Sedgwick was among the first to try this year’s Slip and Slide track at the Meteor Shower event in the quad. Photo by Karla Renic.
Harrison Smith impressed the crowd with his surfing technique at the Slip and Slide area. Photo by Karla Renic.
The Dalhousie Student Union continuously brought out water and sponges for students like Taylor Ernst, to enjoy while dancing along to the DJ. Photo by Karla Renic.
Amir Aali, Taylor Ernst and friends take a break from dancing in the mini pool. Photo by Karla Renic.
Taylor Ernst (left) and Yakira Cliff-Nzombato (right) embrace in a happy moment during Dalhousie’s O-Week party on Monday. Photo by Karla Renic.
A student pours water on the crowd during the party in the quad. Photo by Karla Renic.
Some students took advantage of the paint provided for the Dreamscaping event during today’s events in the quad. Photo by Karla Renic.
Students share laughs and get soaked on the quad party’s dance floor. Photo by Karla Renic.
DSU President Aaron Prosper surfs the crowd at the main stage of the O-Week quad party. Photo by Karla Renic.

Final Countdown

It’s the final countdown: houses have one last chance before the winner of the house cup can be awarded. Students and leaders brought lots of school spirit to the final competition for tiger points in the quad. Teams did small activities and games as judges watched closely to tally up their points.

O-week leaders prepare for the evening’s events during the Final Countdown. Photo by Rafe Ayub.
Decked out in their black and gold these first years said that they loved the campus. Photo by Jessica Pitman.
Leaders pump up their teams in preparation for the Final Countdown. Photo by Jessica Pitman.
An O-Week leader watches as teams compete during the Final Countdown. Photo by Jessica Pitman.
An O-Week team, Old Eddy, celebrates upon completion of their challenge. Photo by Jessica Pitman.
O-Week leaders observe from the stage as new students compete during the Final Countdown. Photo by Jessica Pitman.
OCUS Wizards compete during the Final Countdown as a judge watches closely to tally the points. Photo by Rafe Ayub.

Lacrosse Game

First-years and other Dal students hit Wickwire field wearing black and gold. The first game of Dal’s lacrosse season saw them facing off against Saint Mary’s University. Dal students sure let the other team know what we are made of cheering nonstop for the home team.

What a turn out! A sea of gold and black at Dalhousie’s first lacrosse game of the season against SMU. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
Both teams line up at the beginning of the game, as the sea of black and gold chants “Dal is boss at lacrosse.” Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
Dal huddles up at halftime to discuss the game-plan for the second half. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.

Day Four

Dalaxy

The SUB had mini-stations set up for first years to meet and socialize with different societies that Dal has to offer. Societies such as jack.org, the Dal Arts and Social Studies society, and others offered meet-and-greets among other activities to get students interested.

Signs throughout the Student Union Building directed students to where they could find each society and activity. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
The Loaded Ladle welcomed first-years with a make-your-own tea party. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
The tea party was a great spot for socializing and learning more about what the Loaded Ladle has to offer students. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.

Day Five

Sexy Cosmic Bingo

The Council Chambers in the Student Union Building hosted a unique game of bingo for freshmen to try. The lights were psychedelic and the prizes were raunchy. Advertised as “not your grandma’s bingo” by the DSU, Sexy Cosmic Bingo drew in a large crowd of curious first-years and a night of great entertainment.

Students wait eagerly for Sexy Cosmic Bingo to begin. Who knows what may happen? Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
Sexy cosmic bingo reached max capacity. Students met in the council chambers at the Student Union Building for some steamy fun. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.
The lighting set the mood while bingo numbers were called out to frosh at this sexy game. Photo by Gabbie Douglas.

Day Seven

After a short hiatus in coverage, the Dalhousie Gazette managed to squeeze in one final night of coverage at the last night of O-Week.

Dreaming in Colour

This event was brought to the students by BIPOCUS, a new society on campus this year. The event is the start of Dalhousie’s alternative O-Week: Project Reconstruct. The goal of Dreaming in Colour was to highlight what the BIPOC community has to offer students at Dal, including artists, performers and vendors.

Dreaming in Colour emcees introduce a performance. Photo by Kathleen Jones.
Performer Test engaging with members of the crowd. Photo by Kathleen Jones.
Rap duo Yangsta and Vadell preparing for a leap during their performance. Photo by Kathleen Jones.
Manny Dingo performs a stunt mid-performance. Photo by Kathleen Jones.

O-Week After Party

To wrap-up O-Week, the student union hosted one last party in the Grawood for first-years.

DJ’s lit up The Grawood inside of the Student Union Building to finish off the week with a blast. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
Dalhousie’s 2018 O-Week ended with an energetic dance party sending first-year students off into the Dal atmosphere. Photo by Chris Stoodley.
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