A fresher welcome speech

{I wrote this for a friend who wanted a welcome speech. He was a sophomore and the event was a fresher's party in college WRITTEN sometime in 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to raise a toast to all the new faces in here. New faces that we don’t know till now but would wish to know. The same new faces that once belonged to us an year ago. The same new faces that, over ashort period of time, will no more be, 'NEW' faces. But faces they are now to us, and yes ‘new’ faces.

Well, I speak on behalf of all the second year students here. Just a few lines of how we all feel at this juncture. Here I go.

Newness or novelty has been intriguing and fascinating to man since the Neanderthal times. Novelty for us is excitement and exuberance, surprise and science, cheerfulness and joy, hope and happiness, boldness and buoyancy, positive ness and passion. But men as we all are, novelty to us also means risk, unfamiliarity, uncertainty, fear, doubt and disturbance.

In the same token, the old and the established stands for ‘the familiar and comfortable’, ‘knowledgeable and therefore able’, ‘mature and therefore trustworthy’,‘rugged and therefore reliable.’ But all this goes with accusations of ‘stagnation and staleness’,‘out-of-date and outmoded ness’ and ‘the slow and the stumped'.

What I wish to express using all the ‘adjectives’that I used is that these new faces in here, our juniors for the coming year, represent to us the same hope and challenge as new players in a cricket team or new twists in a good story. And we, as seniors,should ideally be the matured bunch, a bunch of guys and gals they could trust and depend upon.

Together, we can make a terrific team. You, a brand new Ferrari and we, the sparking black, Ford Model T.

So, I, on behalf of all the ‘old’ faces here, welcome the new faces with open hands, open minds and above all, OPEN HEARTS.

Thank You.