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Over the Caturday weekend, families from all over the nation stepped foot on Wildcat territory.  

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s annual Fall Family Weekend between October 21-23 brought forth a flood of Wildcat families, crowding McMinnville restaurants and . For my two roommates, Olivia Welsh ’25 and Matigan Dodge ’25, both of their parents from the Pacific Northwest joined the swarm of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø families in reuniting with their college students. 

This is my second year here at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. I spent this year's Fall Family Weekend with my roommates and fellow ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Dance Team members’ families. Both my mom and dad, along with my older sister, were not available to travel from Hawai’i to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s McMinnville campus over the weekend. In their absence, I was invited to join in with my roommates and their families’ activities for the weekend. 

I spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon with the Welsh family for food outside of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s meal services. 

Joining them over the Fall Family Weekend, I had the chance to get to know ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø alumni, Stephanie Welsh ’95 and Joe Welsh ’96, and how their life at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø differed from their daughter’s and my own. 

For Fall Family Weekend in 2021, my lovely mother, Roberta Ross, and her partner, Justin Chew, visited ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø to directly experience my first year of college. By folding me into their family activities, I felt the security and warm-loving comfort of family and parenting in the absence of my own. 

Olivia’s parents arrived from downtown Seattle, Washington. She believes that “enrolling in college caused a lot of separation between me and my family and it’s fun to show my parents my world and let them experience my life here at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.” 

As Matigan Dodge, her/their parents drove down from Northeast Portland to watch the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Wildcats beat Pacific Lutheran during the sun-filled football game on Saturday. Matigan, Olivia and I performed and spirited with the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Cheer and Dance Team. Matigan recalls that “it was really fun that my parents, brother and grandparents were here for the weekend, but I did not get to spend enough time with them due to the busy football game schedule.” 

Even though the football game took time away from being around Matigan, the Dodge family still engaged in weekend events, including the study abroad program event, prompting the Dodge parents to encourage Matigan to study abroad in her/their senior year. 

As for Olivia’s family, the Welsh’s joined in on the Parents Council meeting, a C.A.T.S program presentation, and the career development event, deepening their understanding of student life here at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. 

Fall Family Weekend is a chance for ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø parents to still be involved in their students' lives and support their hard-working Wildcats.  

And even with the absence of my own, I continued to receive encouragement and support from fellow ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø parents to strive in classes and activities.