Story by Victoria Pishkula
Dad’s Weekend at OU may be one of the most loved weekends of the year, but unfortunately, due to medical issues my dad couldn’t make it last year and cannot come this year either.
For this year, I will be turning my Dad’s Weekend into a Mom’s Mini-Weekend.
Luckily, my mom has said she will definitely spend the weekend with me, but that doesn’t guarantee that it will be time spent in Athens. I’m hoping she makes the brave choice to join me this year and not leave out of the festivities that occur around campus. I mean let’s be honest; nothing is much better than dads on campus and watching all the students in excitement.
However, having my mom in Athens during a crazy weekend is going to be very different. As far as I’m concerned she doesn’t know what she’s really getting herself into if she agrees to come.
Last year, my mom came for Mom’s Weekend. Luckily, I had persuaded her to enjoy a night out on Court St., but the next day was filled with an induction ceremony and a nice lunch. Everything was very low-key and not crazy. Since my mom has never been one of the wild bars moms, it’s easy to say that she would not willingly come down again. Even though I thought she had a mild experience of Athens, I hope that I can drag her to be a Bobcat mom at least one more time.
Last year for Dad’s Weekend I made a trip home, but after hearing about the fun all my friends had with their dads, I did not want to have to make a four hour drive home and miss this coming weekend yet again.
Since my mom will hopefully be here, I want to mention that I do plan to spend some time in Athens but some time doing whatever my mom wants. But as far as the time in Athens goes, I’m apologizing in advance to my mom knowing very well that she is going to stand out as one of the few moms down that day.
My mom has this genius idea that she is going to come see me and we can “relax.” She has in mind a bed and breakfast, mani-pedis and cute lunch dates. As a college student I wouldn’t mind that but I find it extremely entertaining to watch all the drunk dad’s run around uptown. Nothing is better than some free entertainment.
We’ll have to see if I win this battle of staying a night in town and going out with my mom but fingers crossed that she understands.
Also, if my mom stays in town this weekend my mom will definitely be getting to participate in my clubs’ Dad’s Weekend Events. I really hope she’s excited to get lots of pictures with #DadsWeekend! And some funny shirts as well because I am supposed to be in charge of several different events. I’m hoping to mention this in hope that it might help persuade her to want to stay in Athens for the day.
Either way, I know that I’m extremely lucky to have such amazing parents who love me enough that it doesn’t matter what we do on the weekend as long as they get to be a part of it. No matter what, Dad’s Weekend will be a very special weekend.
I really hope my mom has the opportunity to begin falling in love with Athens the way I have and I hope that before I graduate my dad will have the opportunity to walk around the campus, regardless of if it is Dad’s Weekend or just a regular weekend. If they understand and realize why I love being a Bobcat as much as I do they might fall in love with Ohio University too.
Photos courtesy of the author