Student life

Pranks

A prank (jäynä) is a humorous and harmless trick. The aim of the prank is to entertain the people who participate in the prank but, first and foremost, it should also entertain the person who is the target of the prank. Pranks should never cause resentment or physical damage.

One of the most famous pranks of technical students is probably the one that took place in connection with lifting the Vasa ship in front of Stockholm in 1961. A few technical students travelled to Stockholm some time before the lifting, carrying a miniature version of the statue of the running Paavo Nurmi. The students hired a diver to place the statue on the deck of the ship. The lifting of the ship was a great media event and by chance the statue was the first object to surface when the ship was lifted. The statue first caused a maritime-archaeological sensation and, later, a minor foreign-policy dispute. The statue is not on display in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

The long-standing leader of the Teekkari Village, who orchestrated plenty of pranks himself, Teekkari H.C. Ossi Törrönen has defined a prank as follows:

“So, a true prank was – and probably still is – a little bit mischievous, often on the outer limits of appropriateness, but never hard-core porn, political in earnest nor seriously offensive to anyone. There was a lot of effort put in to achieve a small and unconventional happy moment.”

If you are still wondering what a prank is, click your way onto the Vimeo account of the Jäynä Competition where you can find several fun pranks!

The Jäynä Finals, organised every spring, are the culmination of the Jäynä Year and bring together the year’s best pranks in one glorious spectacle. The Jäynä Competition prizes are amazing each year, and the winning team also gets to represent Otaniemi in the national Jäynä Competition.

You can find more information on playing pranks and taking part in the Jäynä Competition at jayna.fi

Remember that the Jäynä Competition is ongoing right now as well!

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