The Antics of Week 9 Explained

Prosh Week (aka Week 9 of Semester 2) is a long-standing Unimelb tradition. It’s a great way to relax and have fun before exams and final assessments. It is kind of a mystery until you get involved. I would ask 2nd and 3rd year students what Prosh was – they would reel off many things that sounded crazy, but fun! “A billy kart race… through campus!?” I would repeat in surprise…

How the week plays out: you join a Prosh team and get points by participating in events. There are ‘big’ teams and ‘small’ teams (with ‘small’ teams composed of less than 20 people). From the stories I’d heard, I was originally a bit reluctant to do Prosh, as I really had no idea what to expect. But, one of my friends asked me if I would like to be in the small team he was captaining.  I decided to go for it, in line with my goal to become more involved at uni this semester! Monash and Swinburne also had a team this year, and I believe they take part every year.

Image: funnyjunk.com

Just kidding, Monash and Swinburne teams. You guys are awesome. It was fun meeting people from other unis!

Here is an insight into what went on in Prosh this year. I went to as many events as I could, and this post will not cover everything that happened. It will cover some of the best bits and those events that I attended! Of course, some still have to be a surprise for those wanting to do Prosh next year.

Pre-List

The Pre-List is given out a couple of weeks before Prosh Week, and there are things to do on there to “clear your conscience” before Prosh Week, like donating blood. There are also random items the judges need to run events on the list. There might also be other things, like those McDonald’s Monopoly tokens (That was such a good idea. Imagine how many the judges have now!? They probably have won everything).

Each team is also given a theme and a colour, e.g. “Yellow Minions” or “Tweed golfers”. These themes are evident to other teams on…

Monday

The main thing that happens on Monday is pre-list judging and the opening ‘ceremony’. The judges are welcomed in by all the teams, and each team performs a song. These were all hilarious. There were ballerinas, scouts, and more people than I expected doing the splits.

Tuesday

One of the events on Tuesday was the Billy Kart race through campus. All karts had to be “Prosher-powered” and there were some innovative designs. I was a marshal, holding back some confused people leaving Castro’s as billy karts zoomed past. It was a lot of fun to watch!

Wednesday

A trivia night was one of Wednesday’s events. As well as rounds of trivia, each team did a parody of a music video. These were so funny! I particularly enjoyed the parody of Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’. That team had the choreography down to a tee.

Thursday

“Proshession” was on Thursday. We protested about protests throughout the CBD, led by the judges. This was a lot of fun and we got some strange looks as well as laughs from city-goers. We also may have protested through an accounting lecture. Sorry, accounting lecture.

The 24 hour scavenger hunt started on Thursday. This is the main event for Thursday/Friday (Friday is also the day of the results party). It is a great bonding time for the teams. I’m not sure if anyone would have gotten the 5000 points for “kidnapping Maroon 5” … but hey, one team might have!

Image: diylol.com

The best thing about Prosh is that you only have to do what you are comfortable with. Unimelb has such a supportive student population, and it’s really all about the fun!

I’m so glad I got involved in Prosh Week this year! I can’t wait until next year, when I hope to do the events I didn’t get a chance to do this time around. Moral of the story: even if you have no idea what something is at uni, just go for it and get involved!