Freshers get a warm welcome to TSOM

By Ashvin Soin and Divya Jyoti

Everyone has high expectations of their time in college and it wasn’t different at the Times School of Media (TSOM).

TSOM conducted its orientation for freshers from September 21^st to 23^rd. It was after two continuous years of lockdown that the freshers of TSOM experienced the orientation live. And as they say, the show was a hit.

First-up formal introductions

The freshers were given a warm welcome on their first day with formal induction to the school, the expectations, and introductions to the faculty members.

Prof Sunil Saxena, Head of TSOM, spoke about the professionalism that was expected from the freshers and the concept of “learning by doing’. He talked of moving away from rote learning and taking the classroom outside with real experiences

Seniors welcome the freshers with a big bang show

Following the formal introductions, the seniors welcomed the new entrants with an ice-breaking session that included dance, music and stand-up comedy. The freshers were also given an opportunity to showcase their talents. The orientation hall was decorated with handmade decorations and buntings made by the seniors. The seniors had a selfie stand to showcase the school’s radio station and another backdrop with the newspaper, The Times of Bennett.

Weeks of preparation finally led to a successful show. The missing of classes and staying up till 5 in the morning working on the décor and the perfect lighting was all worth it. The fresher’s orientation finally came to an end with a bang and the newcomers were left in awe with their grand welcome. “The orientation was amazing, more so because we didn’t experience it. It was fun organizing and preparing the orientation for the new batch,” said Smriti Goyal, a final year student.

Dances, music and games

The first challenge for freshers was to perform the hook step to well-known songs, and Shreya Talwar won the first game after wowing the audience with her dance styles. Then, the freshers had to identify the song by its tune called ‘Fill My Lyrics’. This was won by Chetan Anand.

Time School of Media seniors put on their best performances for the newcomers from classical dancing set to Bollywood melodies, to a fun skit that had everyone in fits of laughter and songs that mesmerized the newcomers.

The next game, Spoiler Alert, was essentially a heads-up for the upcoming college experience for first-year students with fun introductions on what they should expect from certain teachers.

The much-anticipated event was the freshmen talent round. Rishi Bhushan, Chetan, and Sezal Sandhi enthralled everyone with their incredible voices. Shreya, Parul, Akshara, and Priyansh won the dance competition. “The orientation was beyond my expectations, to be very honest. It was so good! I was very nervous before my singing performance but everyone including the anchors comforted me so nicely. I felt grateful. It was a lovely experience.” says Sezal Kaur Sandhu, a BAJMC fresher.



The Team in Blue put on a musical performance while third year students, Omji Dubey's rap performance got full applause. And the quiz ‘Geoguesser’ gave the first-year students a tour the campus with pictures from famous campus locations that they had to guess.

Ready for the roller-coaster ride

The day's final activity was the introduction of the radio club. The club planned a humorous competition called ‘Dialogue Baazi’ in which first-year students had to portray the well-known dialogue using various emotions.

“The orientation served as a trailer that assured me of how great the upcoming years at Bennett are going to be. A blockbuster, FOR SURE” says Shreya Chogule, a BAJMC fresher.

And here’s what a senior student advised the freshmen, “Just be strong and fasten your seatbelts because the ride from here on will be an emotional roller coaster.”

(The writers are both students of BA JMC)