SEMO's Family Weekend aids transition to college

Events all over the campus of Southeast Missouri State University and Cape Girardeau this weekend helped students and families adjust to college life.

What began in 1977 as an event for the football team has grown to a weekend of activities for all students. Relatives and friends could meet roommates and professors, tour the grounds, attend sporting events and explore the area to become familiar with students' new world.

"First-year parents are most eager to come," said Michelle Irby, Family Weekend coordinator and director of Campus Life and Event Services.About half of incoming freshmen travel "a significant distance" to come to Southeast, she estimated, and the weekend allows them and their families to connect with the area. Irby said the events are not just for new undergraduates; experienced students who enjoyed the event in the past often participate.

University president Dr. Ken Dobbins and other members of the executive staff chatted with attendees and welcomed them to the school and the community at a complimentary breakfast Saturday morning at the campus Beanery Caf.

"There's a huge transition from high school to college. Some of them experience freedom they haven't had," Dobbins said, highlighting one of the challenges faced by new students who no longer have adults looking over their shoulders to keep them on track.

"When you think about it, this is really transition time for parents," he said, explaining that parents also undergo a major shift when children leave for school.

For the family of freshman David Dent, some of the effects of his leaving the family home in Warrenton, Mo., were unexpected.

He was joined Saturday by his parents, Michael and Amy McMullen, his 8-year-old brother Isaac McMullen and his grandmother Margie Drey. His mother anticipated that she would miss him but was surprised to find how much the household was affected by the loss of his help with everyday tasks and caring for Isaac. Dent's leaving has been hard for his brother, she said, who gladly skipped a party with friends and made efforts to stay close to his big brother over the weekend. It was the family's first time sightseeing in Cape Girardeau and they liked visiting shops downtown and getting to know the campus.

"It was an adjustment at first, just being away from home," said Dent, student manager of the basketball team who chose Southeast to study athletic training.

"I'd say he's fairly adjusted at this point," Michael McMullen said with a laugh.

For first-year student Rachel Bradshaw of St. Louis, deciding to come to Southeast was easy because she had visited family in the area many times.

"At first it was really easy, all friends and excitement," she said about her first five weeks studying special education. "Then I had tons of homework and it was tough not being at home."

She said the numerous opportunities for academic support, including the ready availability of her professors, have helped her succeed so far.

Her father, Jeff, and her grandparents are university alumni. Jeff Bradshaw said the weekend was an opportunity for him and Rachel's mother, Ronda, to spend some time with their daughter, the last of their three children to go to college.

"It's a lot more quiet," Ronda Bradshaw said of life at home since Rachel left.

One of the weekend's activities is the "Redhawks Rally Against Hunger," an effort to gather canned goods to benefit survivors of the tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., in May and to replenish local food banks. The drive will conclude at the Southeast vs. SIU-Edwardsville soccer game at 1 p.m. Sunday.

A listing of events is atwww.semo.edu/familyweekend.

Pertinent address:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO