The new student orientation is called DATE in the English Department of Universitas Airlangga, which stands for Days with EDSA. Different from last year, this year’s theme is Jumanji. Yes, those two adventurous movies; Jumanji (Welcome to The Jungle) and Jumanji (The Next Level). Among a bunch of other venturous films, why Jumanji, though? Well, the video game and the dangerous challenges in Jumanji represent the whole new college world, with the freshmen as the players. However, jumping into an unfamiliar circumstance must be burdensome for the new students. Hence, the committees agreed to use Jumanji as a real simulation of campus life for the freshmen, delivering DATE to the next level; DATEVENTURE 2K21.

Held for about 1,5 months, DATEVENTURE 2K21 was divided into ten main events in six days; PREDATE, DATE Aquamarine, DATE Citrine, DATE Ruby, DATE Sapphire, and FINISH! Without further due, let’s get to the list!

• PREDATE (11th September 2021)

PREDATE was not included in the primary events of DATE. Instead, PREDATE was for introducing and welcoming the new students (Venturers) to the DATE itself.

• DATE Aquamarine (18th September 2021)

This day is officially the first day of DATE the series. Starting priorly at 8 in the morning, the freshmen were warmly welcomed by ENVIEDSA, which consists of a virtual tour of EDSA and the history of our department. Next, they got to know the structure and other information of BPH EDSA in Our MSA, as well as this year’s company profile. Lastly, the presentation of all EDSA communities took place in SOCIEDSA, closing the DATE Aquamarine with its exciting moments.

• DATE Citrine (19th September 2021)

After hours of activities on the previous day, the new students had to face another series of events, namely Chatime and Choose Your Path. Chatime provided a space for the new students to connect with the seniors and the alumni of EDSA through sharing sessions; productivity, scholarship and exchange, and career. Meanwhile, in Choose Your Path, the committee gave the Venturers a chance to expand their passion by joining a talent seminar based on their choices. The themes were public speaking, community, photography and editing, design, and writing. Besides that, there were also three videos that elaborate about the minors in EDSA, helping the freshmen to understand them better.

• DATE Ruby (26th September 2021)

This day contained E-FEST, Datesport (quiz), and Titheventure. E-FEST stands for EDSA Future Environment Interest. Here, the freshmen had to present a group project plan regarding an environmental issue. Afterward, there was Datesport which required the new students to do a quiz related to Jumanji and then upload the certificate to their Instagram. Next, Titheventure. This event distributed funding and groceries from the new students to an orphanage in Surabaya, Panti Asuhan Muhammadiyah Medokan Ayu.

• DATE Sapphire (2nd October 2021)

There were two sessions in DATE Sapphire; OPSWAP and DATESPORT (Mobile Legends competition). OPSWAP is an opinion swap, medium for the freshmen to convey their point of view about culture or language. Next is DATESPORT, in which there is a representative from each group that will compete in the Mobile Legends game. The rest of the members-only had to support them via live chat YouTube. 

• FINISH! (3rd October 2021)

This very last day of DATE is the closing point. The main events were awarding sessions and new student inauguration, but there were also some additional shows to lift the mood. Kania and Kevin performed extraordinary dance performances and special guest stars, and Kak Ghifari (2019) and his friends sang three songs. The DATE series of events was officially over after the last song.

DATEVENTURE 2K21 may be finished, but remember that your journey as a part of EDSA starts right at this moment. See you, the students of 2021, on other occasions, and of course, DATE 2022 as the committees!