For many University of Miami students and parents, Family Weekend 2019 offered a chance for reunions that centered around food, fun and football. This year, more than 2,500 family members visited their Canes and participated in activities hosted by the Department of Orientation and Commuter Student Involvement.
Cailin Murphy, a senior majoring in exercise physiology, said Family Weekend has always been one of the highlights of her experiences at UM. She also said that it’s important to get the entire UM community involved, allowing families to see everything students have fallen in love with on campus.
“It’s always such a good feeling to give my mom the biggest hug after not seeing her for a while,” Murphy said.
During this event, families had the opportunity to attend a series of sessions, including model class shadowing, interest sessions and family receptions.
Many families also attended the Virginia Tech vs. UM home game Saturday, Oct. 5. Parents hopped on shuttles along with students and were brought to tailgates, enjoying the football atmosphere and crowds of green and orange.
Lea Shah, a sophomore majoring in neuroscience, said Family Weekend allowed her to give her family a hands-on look into her daily life at UM. She was also able to fuse the gap between college and family relations by immersing them in her world.
“I love that UM continues to host a parent weekend,” said Shah. “It gives students an opportunity to give their parents a little taste of our world here in Miami and what it’s like to be a student again, all while getting the chance to spend some quality family time together.”
Family Weekend 2019, which ran from Thursday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 6, included a range of activities families could participate in at their leisure.
“It felt so good to see my parents after a while,” Shah said. “I love spending time with my family, and I am so grateful that they were able to make a trip to Miami to visit both my sister and I.” Her sister, Serena, is a senior majoring in neuroscience.
Sasa Middleton, a sophomore majoring in biology, enjoyed Family Weekend because she was able to get her mom up to speed on everything going on in her academic and personal life.
“It’s very eye-opening for both the student and parents to be immersed in the same setting while bonding at the same time,” Middleton said.