On the basis of previous traditions, the Freshmen’s Ball of Semmelweis University was organized along a special topic this year as well. In the current academic year the scenery of the event was borrowed from the Harry Potter series: the 1600 participating students were all dancing in Hogwarts on the night of the Ball.
The ceremonial evening was opened by Dr. Ágoston Szél. Rector Szél started his speech with a Persian tale, the lesson of which was that a physician needs to be extremely attentive of the symptoms and problems of patients in order to diagnose correctly and to find the relevant treatment. Rector Szél highlighted the significance of unexpected discoveries in research after telling the audience the story of The Three Princes of Serendip. As an example he made note of the discovery of penicillin, among other things. “I truly hope that you will all become great observers in patient care, and as a researcher you will all have the opportunity to obtain such good results on which you never counted earlier”, expressed Rector Szél his good wishes to the students.
Besides waltz and another popular Hungarian traditional dance called ‘palotás’, students studying in the same study groups performed their optionally chosen dances during which the choice of music was also related to the Harry Potter series. The Ball Room was decorated with flags, brooms, posters and an enchanted car, all well-known objects from the stories written about Harry Potter.
According to the main organizers of the Freshmen’s Ball, Kristóf Göbölös and Csaba Eke, every year it is important to prepare with high-standard programmes. The event organizers of the Instructor Self-Active Group said that the preparations of the Hogwarts scenery required several weeks of work. Kristóf Göbölös added that the Freshmen’s Ball is important to first year students because this event represents the end of the programme series organized for freshmen at the beginning of the academic year, thus it is also the milestone for the real start of university life and learning.
During the Freshmen’s Ball the Medic Orchestra provided the music for the waltz, and for the party the following bands were invited besides DJs: Twentees, Ivan and the Parazol. The organizers will offer the amount of money gained from the charity lottery for the Department of Neurology.
Eszter Keresztes
Photo: István Bielik
Translated by: Katalin Romhányi
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