The students of School of Communication Studies (SCS), Panjab University flagged off their highly anticipated media fest 'Soch' on 17 November amongst a lot of fanfare.

A variety of creative activities were organized inspired by the knowledge and qualities that a journalist must possess. Day 1 started off with 'Spin a story' testing the creativity and storytelling skills of the participants who had to write a story based only on a few pictures.

The event was judged by Kamalpreet Kaur, Balpreet kaur and Ravitaj. Arshdeep Kaur of SD College bagged the first position. Graffiti making was held outside the department and the walls were adorned with tastefully crafted graphics. Ishita Sarkar of PGGCG Sector 11 was able to create the best artwork out of all.

Ad-mad was another popular activity where the best sales pitch won the prize. It was organized in association with Zapbuild and Bigroxx. The judges for this were Devika Ahluwalia, Sneha Popli and Narvijay Yadav. Doaba College was the most convincing salespitch. RJ hunt saw many talented radio presenters in the making compete against each other, sponsored by Big FM.

Esteemed radio personalities Bano Pandita, Ashish Tandon and RJ Youngvir were the judges, Shiffali from Doaba College was declared the winner. Debate saw many talented debaters put forth their points with wit and vigor on the topic 'Citizen Journalism as the new face of media in the next 10 years’. Lalan Bagel, Praveen Sharda and Professor Deepti Gupta were the judges.

Next in line were outdoor events. Beginning with Dance competition, the dancers participated in Indian and Western solo and group categories and a large crowd applauded their performances. Sumit Dance Academy provided the judges. Sumit himself along with Ajay and Bohran were present to judge the performers.

Later in the evening, Fashion show set the ramp ablaze, showing off the new collection at Shoppers Stop and the styling and flair of Tress Lounge. Finally to conclude the festivities for the day a Bollywood Dance Night was organized with the performance of Bass India. Dj Zenna x Rhythm, supported by Mr Singh turned up the dance floor and a big crowd of students and participants jived to their beats.

Day 2 started with a documentary screening competition, judged by Chander Kamboj, Sylvain Choin and Professor Janki. Doaba College won the award for the best documentary. While the cinephiles were busy with the screenings, the rest of the participants were scratching their heads outside trying to figure out the clues for a Treasure Hunt that was going on simultaneously.

It was a big hit with the participants as they were at their wits end trying to find the treasure. The first prize was won by Sumit and Gurpreet from Chitkara University. An Open-mic event was organized where people presented their views on the theme, 'Gehri soch, baat barabiri ki hai'.

This event was simply a discussion with no winners and everyone was free to put forth their viewpoints regarding gender equality. Next up, Nukkad natak saw students enact street plays outside the department. Their innovative performances and their skits carried inspiring messages.

Navdeep Kaur, Narinder Singh Bhinder and Dr Rana Nayar were the judges for the event and the team of MCM DAV Girls College was declared as winners. In Photography competition, the DSLR category was won by Sarthak Bhardwaj of Chitkara University, the mobile category was won by Vikas Rana of PGGC Sector 11 and the online category was won by Anay Dhiman. Aankho Dekhi was won by the team of Doaba College.

Gurpreet of SD College won the dance competition and team SD College was declared to be the winners for the fashion show. The title of Mr. and Ms. Shoppers Stop was presented to Rahul Marwaha and Deachan Angmo from the host department itself, respectively.

The valedictory event saw Satendra Chauhan, deputy editor of Aaj Tak as the chief guest who said, "Journalism shouldn't be limited to just classrooms. Media Fests like Soch boost up the morale of the students to join the field and make them confident enough to deal with difficulties that may come their way."

Neena Kaplash, Dean, expressed how happy she was to be a part of the fest and how such fests help the students in broadening their thinking skills.

Dr Archana R. Singh, Chairperson, SCS, said, "The fest has only been possible with the efforts that my children have put in. I wish them all, great success for the future." Professor Jayanth Pethkar, SCS was present all throughout the event, as the backbone of his students.

The overall champions’ trophy was presented to Doaba College. The event concluded with a special treat for the students. A concert was organized where Mastikhor delighted the crowd with their live tunes. The event was a big success and all the participants made a lot of memories at SCS.