Being away at school, and only being able to see them through a Skype screen did not allow us to get the full effects of our loving homes ... many people even became disconnected from their parents.
Reuniting with them was such a great experience! It was only a month and a half before that they lugged all of our things up the stairs to our dorm room, hugged us goodbye, and left us alone!! We were to decide when we ate, when we showered, when we went to bed, when we cleaned our room, when we did our homework .... it was the first time we decided everything in our lives, and it was SCARY. We were petrified, but we knew deep down in our hearts that they knew we would have a great time ... and that we would power through school, form friendships that would last a lifetime, and successfully set up the rest of our lives.
Now they were coming back for the weekend, and we were going to proudly show off our school, our dorm rooms (although some of us were not so proud about the state of our rooms), and introduce them to our friends.
Campus Activities Council did a fabulous job at setting up family weekend. It is no easy task to prepare for mother and fathers, brothers and sisters of different ages ... and also account for the college students. They planned tirelessly for the weekend that laid ahead...
Friday night there was a concert uptown where 8 Days a Week (a Beatles tribute band) and a piano player performed for a large audience, and just down the street at the bar, Skippers, free food was being given away. Uptown was hopping Friday night!
Saturday cars lined the streets entering Oxford (a very funny sight for the residents and the students) Walking to breakfast I could hardly get across the street... it was bumper to bumper traffic! This could have also been due to the University of Cincinnati vs. Miami football game that was going down at Yager Stadium...
Since my family lived very close to Oxford they came up Saturday afternoon halfway through the football game. I put all my Miami gear on and ventured over to Yager where I watched a very intense game.
MIAMI HAD THEM!!!! They had the University of Cincinnati in the palm of their hands ... they had the win .... but it was like the twilight zone ... the University of Cincinnati stole it out of their hands (in slow motion ... no joke)
I'm kidding. Miami played a great game, and they had the University of Cincinnati fans biting their nails on the edge of the seat for a couple plays. The stadium was packed, and I'm sure that got the Miami players excited.
If you weren't a football fan there was a crop walk that benefits an overseas project, and lots of people ended up staying at the tailgate eating their food (not a bad idea... you could hear the dim roar of the crowd and imagine Miami crushing UC... from the comfort of lawn chair outside your car.
After the game my family and I headed uptown to get some food... we went to wait in line at a restaurant. I thought I heard the waitress tell the family in front of me that it was a half-hour wait.... I was wrong, oh so wrong, it was a TWO AND A HALF HOUR WAIT. We wandered up and down the street like a bunch of homeless puppies until we finally decided to buy a pizza and take it back to my dorm room.
I wished I would have taken advantage of what campus offered ... families could eat with their students at different dining halls around the campus. They could purchase the tickets for dinner through the box office and then they wouldn't have to wait in such long lines uptown. Next year I am taking FULL advantage of this opportunity.
Around 7:30 we headed up to Millett Hall (the basketball arena) to watch a special performance by Bill Cosby! He was absolutely hilarious! He performed a routine of his experience with his daughter going to college ... I think that Miami parents, after hearing the ... challenges ... that he had to go through with his daughter, hugged their children extra tight and were grateful to have such ambitious children.
Parents weekend was such a wonderful weekend. Miami was lit up in red and white, and seeing whole families together was such a treat. I miss my family so much, and I call my mom and dad often to tell them about what is going on in my life, but it's not the same as being able to share the experiences firsthand.
Showing them the campus helped them to visualize where my classes were, where I studied, who my friends were, where I ate dinner and went to hang out. Reconnecting with my family was great ... and I'd be getting to see them a few weeks later for FALL BREAK!!!
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