ITMO Universe is an orientation event that introduces all first-years to the life, opportunities, and, of course, students and staff of ITMO University. The university’s first orientation event like this was held back in 2019. Though the festival’s name and format have changed repeatedly, its goal remained the same – to help newcomers become a part of ITMO Family. 

This year, the event featured stations about various aspects of university life, a festival of student clubs, and a welcome party. 

“Jokingly, we say that the main KPI of ITMO Universe is having our first-years knowing the difference between ITMO Students and ITMO’s Student Services Office. On a more serious note, though, here students get to know the university’s corporate structure, which is rather complicated, our values, and the people they may turn to with different problems. For five years now, we’ve been starting off our orientation event with a series of posts on social media, followed then by an offline meetup in late August. This year, we had a “full house” – so many people wanted to join our in-person event that we had to increase the number of spots and open backup stations,” notes Elena Borisova, the event’s organizer and the director of ITMO’s Student Services Office. 

ITMO in memes and jokes 

At lectures and workshops, speakers explained the university’s structure and services, internship opportunities, startup initiatives, and academic mobility programs – in the language of memes, jokes, and quizzes. First-year students also got the chance to tour ITMO’s historical campuses and the Museum and Optics. As noted by Evgeniya Nadezhdina, a first-year student at the Faculty of Applied Computer Science, the event’s stations felt like a quest, which, however, helped her better learn and remember how to find a certain room, coworking spaces, libraries, and other university spaces. 

The first rule of a student club is: you join it

At ITMO Universe.Clubs, students could join sports clubs, musical and dance groups, student brigades, intellectual and board games clubs, a philosophical community, or ITMO.Punchline (the university's stand-up comedy club). Better still, first-years could take part in club activities – to balance on a balance board, have their future predicted by a deck of cards from a national Tatar game, or guess the dance style. Those who completed tasks at five clubs took home a themed sticker pack, while those who were able to complete tasks from 15 and more clubs competed for official ITMO merch. 

ITMO element

The first week of classes ended with a welcome party, which brought together over 4,000 freshmen at A2. The theme was natural elements. The dress code is all white. However, students were free to customize their outfits right on the spot; for instance, paint them the colors of their zodiac signs, or do body art, neon rhinestones, or glitter. At the entrance, visitors were handed glow sticks (red, blue, or white) to match their element – all to make the dance floor fill with glow when ITMO’s anthem was performed. 

Creative groups and cheerleaders got the floor warmed up for the secret headliner – Toxi$. The rapper vibed with the audience right away, celebrating the new chapter in their lives – that begins at ITMO University.