O-Week: What to Expect
O-Week at Ormond is more than a welcome – it’s a week-long introduction into one of the most spirited, curious, and connected communities you’ll ever join.
Tuesday 4 February 2025 • 5 minute read
“O-Week 2025 was one for the history books.” Those words – spoken by a student still catching their breath – capture the essence of what it means to arrive at Ormond. For new residents, the campus feels like a film set brought to life: sandstone cloisters, a buzzing Quad, and hundreds of new faces all converging for the first time under the banner of Black Hat and Red Text.The week begins the moment you step through the gates. HoOWL leaders (Head of O-Week Leaders, for those still learning the lingo) greet you with genuine enthusiasm and a firm belief that there’s no such thing as too many name games. Days are filled with scavenger hunts, team challenges, and communal lunches on the lawn. Evenings bring movie nights, trivia, and the kind of unplanned conversations that turn strangers into friends.By the end of day two, your room feels less like a dorm and more like a home base – cluttered with O-Week schedules, half-finished snacks, and the beginnings of lifelong friendships.Where tradition meets mayhemO-Week at Ormond is an exercise in glorious contradiction. One moment you’re attending a welcome from the Master in the Dining Hall – gowns on, candles lit, speeches echoing off heritage stone – and the next, you’re in costume for a themed party that somehow makes its way across half the campus.That duality defines the Ormond experience. There’s the gravitas of Formal Hall – the twice-weekly ritual where students dine together, listen to speakers, and celebrate achievements – alongside the chaos of inter-wing challenges and scavenger hunts. You’ll hear the college bell ring one minute and the roar of chants the next.Somewhere between the traditions and the mischief, something clicks. You realise you’re part of something much bigger than your first-year nerves – a living community that’s serious about learning, playful in spirit, and endlessly proud of its quirks.
The heart of communityO-Week isn’t about finding perfection; it’s about finding your people. Everyone here arrives with different stories, accents, and ambitions, but there’s a shared willingness to dive in. You’ll see it at breakfast when someone new joins your table, at tutorials where curiosity outweighs confidence, and during those late-night corridor conversations that go from surface chatter to soul-searching in ten minutes.The Ormond Chronicle described the week as a blend of excitement and courage – “a time when new faces become familiar, and familiar faces become friends.” It’s true. There’s something deeply comforting about realising that every person around you is also figuring it out as they go.And through it all, the HoOWL team, sub-committee members, and student leaders make sure everyone feels included, supported, and seen. It’s organised chaos, held together by care.The O-Week Ball: A night to rememberBy the end of the week, exhaustion gives way to anticipation for the grand finale – the O-Week Ball. Held in the Dining Hall, it’s where formality meets flair. Students swap jeans for tuxedos, sneakers for heels, and spend one dazzling night dancing beneath the chandeliers that have witnessed generations before them.It’s more than a party; it’s a moment of belonging. You’ve survived the whirlwind, you’ve learned the chants, and now you’re celebrating the beginning of something bigger – your Ormond journey.
“You’ll meet people who will become your friends for life.”
What you’ll take with youBy the time lectures start and the rhythm of university life settles in, you’ll have already learned something vital: Ormond is so much more than a place to stay. It’s a living network of scholars, athletes, artists, and changemakers who cheer each other on – through exams, performances, debates, and everything in between.O-Week is your first glimpse of that community in action. It’s where curiosity becomes courage, where confidence begins quietly, and where belonging happens almost by accident. The week ends, but the story doesn’t – it’s only just begun.
Your turn to make it Ormond
Ready to start your own Ormond story? Learn more about College life and find out how to apply.