Student Overall - Traditions

Traditions

Certain traditions relating to the use of overalls exist. Typically, a new student will be given permission to use his overalls during the later half of his first academic year, often after certain amount of "freshman points" have been collected by participating in various social events like parties and contests held by the organizations. During the first academic spring, the various engineering student organizations tend to host events during which the new students are officially taken as a members of their organization. During these events, the students often volunteer to go through a minor rite that often includes diving into a pool, lake or river with their newly issued overalls as a "student baptism". Typically in Finland these events are held around the largest student holiday of May 1 or Vappu, when thousands of students gather outdoors to celebrate. Lesser traditions can dictate that a student should sew his badges onto his overalls by hand, and that the overalls shouldn't be cleaned except either by swimming in the overalls or by hosing it down.