Family Weekend can be a bit of a mixed bag. For some people, it is incredibly exciting to see their parents and show them around campus. Their parents are really excited to go see all of the performances, and there are a plethora of things for them to do. For others, it can seem as though there is not nearly enough to keep your parents busy all weekend, and although you want to hang out with them, you find yourself worrying that they’re getting bored. I am a member of the latter group. Although I love seeing my parents when they come to visit, after taking them around to see where I have classes and my favorite parts of campus, we always end up struggling to figure out what else we want to do. I want to hangout out with them and have a pleasant weekend, but we often just end up sitting around and chatting instead of participating in all of the weekend events. Additionally, I only live two hours away from Kenyon, so it’s a bit of a challenge to decide if it’s easier for them to pay to stay in a hotel for a day or two or for me to just make the drive and stay at home over the weekend. And, on top of that, my family is so incredibly busy that there is rarely a weekend that everyone has free to come visit.
With all of these complications, my family decided to simplify things this year. We celebrated Family Weekend at home. Instead of trying to move around their schedules so that everyone could go, I left after work on Friday night, and I was hanging out with my family within a few hours. This made sense because I didn’t have anything scheduled on campus since it was Family Weekend, so it was easier for me to make the trip, and it allowed my family to keep their normal schedule. Additionally, having Family Weekend back home gave us an excuse to do something fun. So, on Friday night, instead of heading straight home, I met up with my mom and my siblings at Cedar Point.
Since it’s October, Halloweekends at Cedar Point are in full swing, which meant that there was lots of fun to be had by all. My mom and my brother went crazy, riding every roller coaster they could, while my sister and I took a more relaxed approach, riding anything with a short line, and enjoying all of the haunted houses. During the Halloween season, Cedar Point becomes essentially a spooky wonderland during the day, and after 7PM, it becomes straight up haunted. One of the things that is really cool about Halloweekends is that as you walk through the park, there are different parts that are “scare zones.” Each scare zone is clouded with fog as scary music plays, and there are actors walking around ready to pop up behind you if you aren’t paying attention. It’s really quite impressive, and it’s a lot of fun because it’s essentially multiple different haunted houses in one. My sister and I saw clowns, pumpkins, and ended the night with over-priced Starbucks. We all ended up having a great time, and the night got even better when I got to go home to my cozy bed and movies with my brother.
On Saturday, we hung out much like we would have had we been on campus, but it was in a much more comfortable environment because we were home, so it didn’t feel necessary to be doing something all the time. I helped out around the house, saw some friends, and had an amazing home cooked meal. I enjoyed my alternative Family Weekend because I got to have a lot of family time. Not only was I with everyone, but I got to spend time at home with my pets and all of the comforts that come along with being in a place that you’ve lived in for the majority of your life. Although I do hope that my parents come to see some of the cool things that I’m doing at Kenyon at some point, I don’t think that Family Weekend needed to be the time to do that. And, honestly, we had a much better time this year than we did last year.
Image credits: Jenna Bouquot