Parents Weekend is the perfect time for your friends to get to know you better than ever before.

Friends at Hillsdale know you apart from your parents and family. They likely have never seen your interactions with your family, which form essential parts of your identity that often lie dormant in college. Use parents weekend not merely as an escape into this comfortable identity but as a time to share these aspects of your life with your Hillsdale friends.

In his song, “Old Friends,” Ben Rector expresses the nostalgic sentiment we all feel toward the friends who grew up with us: childhood friends, church friends, high school friends. The friends who share and know parts of you that are often foreign, or at least unknown, here at Hillsdale. 

These friends know your hometown, know your parents, your siblings, even your pets — the little parts of you that you took for granted until coming to college where all of that is unknown. As Rector says, “There’s nothing like old friends.” 

But of course, one of the greatest blessings of Hillsdale College is the new friends you make. They are friends who live life with you for four years and watch you grow and mature. They sit with you through the late tears and laughs. They watch you pursue your passions and mature into a young man or woman. In a way, they know you better than anyone in these four years. 

But they don’t know your parents or family. They likely haven’t seen your hometown or hung out in your basement. And meeting the family is crucial and revelatory, even apart from romantic relationships. Your friends will know and understand you better after having spent just a few hours with your family.

The same is true for your parents. They don’t know your friends except by name and face in those three pictures you’ve sent your mom. A person’s friends say a lot about who that person is. So, parents will learn more about their kid just by spending a few hours with his friends. 

Watching friendship in action will bring such joy to your parents. It will also change future calls and stories with your mom or dad. They won’t interrupt asking, and say, “Now which one is that again?” Instead, they will know names, faces, and personalities which will make them appreciate that funny story you share all the more. 

If your parents are coming this weekend, have them adopt your friends, too.  Invite friends to join you for lunch or dinner. Share that part of your life with your people here. 

If you’re an orphan this weekend, take time to be with a friend’s family. You’ll be surprised at how much you learn through observation. You still may never see their back porch or basement, but at least you’ve met the parents.