Looking Back Onto SNNC

After two consecutive years of postponement attributable to the beloved pandemic, the Students’ Nobel Nightcap, or SNNC, finally embellished Sveavägen 65 this past fall. Indeed, as the Nobel Night approached, it became difficult to not familiarize oneself with everything that goes into its creation. As a result, SNNC became the focal point for critique from some who did not partake in the project. Many students had project group mates who were often occupied with unknown obligations, or were herded away from regular study spaces during the everpresent construction week. As with most dialogues, such critiques had justifiable ground to take shape. At the same time, taking a closer look at the thoughts shared by those who helped in blossoming this grand project can help us develop a closer affliction toward their humble efforts. 

In 1978 SSE student Mats Nyqvist held and executed an ambition to organize a party which would close off the Nobel week and last past midnight. SNNC has since then been nurtured to become an official student-led party for the Nobel guests to celebrate the Nobel week year-after-year. The hosting university is rotated between SSE, KTH, KI, and SU every year. As a cherry on top, the theme for the big night holds an entirely different ambition each year. For the Students’ Nobel Nightcap of 2022, the prevailing  theme was Time Travel. An interesting account is that the guests are not directly revealed the theme of the night beforehand. Those who cultivated the theme shared how the guests’ reactions from the big night will be their most memorable takeaway: 

“The actual party and seeing it all come together was a really cool experience.  It was a cool theme. I liked it. A lot of the guests were very confused, but once they figured it out, they were like ‘ahhh okay, cool!’ That was my favorite part, I think. Seeing how we took over the whole school and how a whole year’s work resulted in a night will be difficult to forget.” 
- Niklas Franks 

“I thought that the theme was cool from the beginning. But it was also pretty hard to picture how it was supposed to work out in a good way. Even though we had a huge budget, we are still students, and we only have limited skills, experience, and knowledge. As time went on, we started seeing sketches of the decor managers, the CR-team was talking to sponsors, different entertainers were hired, and the plans for each room came together, step by step. The vision was slowly taking shape, and the party turned out even better than we could have imagined.” 
- Emilia Essinger 

“Just seeing a lot of famous people during the big night was really cool. Seeing the guests' faces as they walked in made you feel quite proud of the long hours put in. It was relieving to see.” 
- Andreas Chamia 

Emilia, a first year Bachelor’s student in the Business and Economics (BE) program, was kind enough to share what her role as Room Project Manager entailed: 

“When I applied, I had just started SSE. I did not really know what I was getting into. I had not understood the size of the party at all, but I wanted to do something creative, and organizing a big party sounded really fun. I was responsible for the decor in the viking room. That meant I had to plan and fully design the entire room. I had to coordinate with the food and beverage, entertainment, and sound and lighting RPMs. The expectations were really high and I think they were met. The generals said they got good feedback this year.” 

Andreas and Niklas, both second year students in the BE program, also shared insights into their role as nighties, which is the entry-level position for SNNC:

“I was specifically responsible for the security. In specific rooms during the night, I was responsible for knowing where the fire extinguishers, safety plans, and emergency exits were located. I had the least amount of work to do: 4 shifts during the construction week, work during the night, and 2 deconstruction shifts after. This was a lot less responsibility than others. I am really proud of the way everyone showed up during the construction week. From what I saw, even if it was kind of unorganized in the beginning, people still took responsibility for themselves to find things to do. It was really cool to see that everyone took their own responsibility for completing the project.” 
 - Andreas 

“I worked as a bartender. So, my responsibility was just to serve alcohol and entertain the guests. I also worked during construction week and deconstruction weeks. I think it was a lot of work, even just as a nightie. I have no idea how the higher-ups did it. They had a crazy amount of work, and they had so many responsibilities. They should definitely be proud of themselves, and I am also proud of myself.” 
- Niklas 

The opportunity to adopt new skills was another possibility for many who partook in the construction:

“On a maturity level, everyone had to take a step further than I initially expected. Since it was not that structured, everyone had to learn a lot of new things. For instance, I had to take some courses on how to manage a saw during construction week. This was an additional level that I did not think I would get. However, responsibilities were spread out to people who wanted to take them. I appreciated that if you wanted to take more responsibility, you were allowed to. Essentially, we got a spreadsheet we could fill in if we were comfortable working with different parts. And then, there was a safety course during the construction week to operate different machines. Thus, no one that was not authorized could operate the machines.” 
- Andreas 

A broad network of students, emboldened by a variety of backgrounds and interests of those from partner universities across Stockholm, reflected on the memorable, appreciative, and family-like atmosphere felt in the weeks leading up to the big night:

“I think that all of SNNC was really special. We got the chance to meet students from different universities and lots of friendships were made. Especially the last few weeks, when the big night came closer and closer, everyone was so stressed and exhausted. We were all in it together, and I think we became really close during that time. When it was over, everyone was so exhausted, laying on the floor in the Aula… just kind of laughing and crying when it was over at like 5 in the morning, because it had been such a journey, and this feeling of we did it — somehow was incredible.” 
- Emilia 

“I miss the internal events. It kind of felt like a large family, where everyone was like: this is what we are going to do now for the coming 10 days. It was really cool to see how the different schools — KTH, KI, and SU — were supposed to work together. It was cool to meet people who did not study the same thing as you did. During internal events, you got to connect with the student life in Stockholm as a whole.” 
- Andreas 

“It is cool that it is student-led. There was very much a community feeling. People were, however, very stressed. It was not always feel-good, but it was a very valuable experience.” 
- Niklas 

Several tribulations among the students inevitably resulted from bearing the great task of organizing such a grand event. Private social life and studies proved obstacles in the wake of SNNC responsibilities. As Essinger describes, “...during the fall, I had 5 meetings every week, and I had to work in-between those meetings for SNNC. It was really time-consuming towards the end.” Nonetheless, these challenges were overcome in a collective fashion, with members accepting the less-than-ideal circumstances projected upon them, doing this on a day-to-day basis: 

“Going into it, I thought it was supposed to be a very professional sort of event. I think the budget was also a lot higher than other SASSE events. When thinking of the Nobel night, it has a lot of prestige, so I thought that SNNC in general was supposed to be at a higher level. But going into the project, it was more of a student thing than I thought. I thought it would be more professional in how meetings were structured, how organized things were. It was not a bad thing that things were less structured. I just thought going into it, it would be less of a student union thing. We had a construction week. I worked during the first 2 days of the week, and it was quite unorganized. A lot of people did not know what specific things they were supposed to do. Even the managers for specific rooms were also uncertain. Day by day, they learned how to structure things, which surprised me. It worked out in the end.” 
- Andreas 

Finding admiration for our fellow peers in their honest outlooks following the Students’ Nobel Nightcap 2022 can allow us to more amicably regard their efforts and the inconveniences collateral to these. This way, we too can uplift the student-led ambition that continues to crystallize year-after-year, rounding out the prestigious Nobel week. As a closing remark, Emilia summarizes what SNNC is all about: “That feeling of: we did it — together, is something I am really going to miss.”