This past weekend, Sept. 19 through Sept. 21, was Parent and Family Weekend at Keene State College.
The weekend was a chance for parents and families to visit their KSC students.
For families, it was full of opportunities to explore the campus, meet the students’ friends and peers, and attend some of the events that were planned. Some of these events included a comedian, parent-to-parent forums, sporting events, or even just food and refreshments available all around campus.
Although most of the parents and families that come to visit Keene for Parent and Family Weekend were on campus to visit first-year residents, there were also parents and families visiting students of all ages.
First-year Lindsey Leighton said, “Parents weekend is important because being a freshman in college is such a big change in people’s lives and family is what helps a lot of people get through tough times.”
Another excited student was junior Juliana Cerbone. Although she is in her third year at KSC, her parents still came up for the weekend.
“I know this weekend is mostly for freshmen but I also haven’t seen my parents since August. I mean, hey, I miss them too. We aren’t going to any of the events that are planned on-campus, but it’s still a really good time of year for them to come see me,” Cerbone said.
Leonard Mullin, a senior, spoke about how glad he was to be seeing his parents.
“My parents are great people, I get excited to see them no matter what weekend,” Mullin said.
Students said they believe that Parent and Family Weekend is essential to students.
“I think this is an important weekend every year, because it not only allows students time with their families, but it allows students to show off everything they’ve been doing at school since we got here in August. My parents always love coming up for it,” Mullin said.
Mullin continued, “It’s sad to say that this is my last time taking part in one of these weekends.”
First-year student Hunter Arnold said, “I went home last week, so I just saw my parents pretty recently but they are still coming for the weekend. We’re going to try to go to as many of the events Keene has planned as possible.”
One of the events held on Saturday afternoon was the women’s soccer game against Plymouth State University. Tickets were five dollars for adults and free for KSC students and children under 12, providing an opportunity for families to watch a sporting event together.
Ryan Askham, sophomore, attended the women’s soccer game with his family.
“My parents and I are going to the women’s soccer game and we’re going to love it. We love going to sporting events together — I’m not really big into going to shows and other events so I was glad that there was a sports game at home this weekend,” Askham said.
Standup Magician Derek Hughes was one of the guests KSC had this weekend. In order to have gone to this show a ticket was needed. Tickets for this event were also five dollars for adults and free for KSC students. Mullin along with senior Robert Remy also attended with their parents.
“My parents were the ones who wanted to attend the show but I think I enjoyed it even more than they did,” Mullin said about the Derek Hughes show.
Parent and Family Weekend had positive opportunities for everyone involved. Some students said they even use this weekend as a time for them to have their parents buy them more school supplies, food and other things that they may have forgotten on move-in day.
Remy said, “Every time my parents come up to visit they re-supply me and give me support. The support I get from my parents helps me get through every week of classes, I have a very rigorous schedule.”
The family farewell brunch on Sunday morning gave families who stayed in town a chance to wrap up a fun weekend and say goodbye.
“Even though I know I’m going to see my family again in about a month, it was still sad to see them go,” Remy said, reflecting on Parent and Family Weekend as a whole.
Julie Flynn can be contacted at jflynn@keene-equinox.com
