This weekend, the Trojan family will grow as the campus welcomes relatives and friends for the annual Trojan Family Weekend.
But for many students, Family Weekend comes without a family.
The undergraduate USC student body is made up of 26.6% international students, making it difficult for their loved ones to attend due to travel accommodations. Annenberg Media interviewed students whose family will not be making the trip to see how they feel about the upcoming weekend.
Yifei Wang, a freshman studying sociology, proposed the idea that the university subsidize travel costs.
“My parents are not coming because they’re all the way from China and the plane ticket would be very expensive. I suggest the school started paying for international families’ plane tickets during Family Weekend. Then they’ll be here,” she said.
Since Wang’s family will not be able to fly down, her and other students are making this Family Weekend their own through other forms of bonding. Wang said that she plans to hang out with her friends’ parents and get to know them.
Many students may be in the same boat. Andrea Salazar Lopez, a sophomore studying law, history and culture aims to make the most of her situation.
“Even if I’m not going with my family, I [am] going with a lot of friends and making that family.”
Madeline Scanlon, a senior theater major from New York said, “It’s not easy to just come out for a weekend.” “I don’t think I’d want them to come. . . because it gets so stressful with all the different people here, and I think it’s hard to have a good time.” she said.
Scanlon expressed that she does miss her family, but with midterm season approaching she does not want them visiting. Other students, like Bianca Arzán-Montañez, a junior studying gender and sexuality, have already experienced a Family Weekend with their relatives in previous years and don’t feel the need to experience it again.
But, feelings run high during Family Weekend, and that may be hard to ignore for some students. Arzán-Montañez said that last year she worked at the bookstore, and got emotional seeing fellow students with their families. “I was in the thick of it,” she added.
Whether students will be welcoming families this weekend or not, anyone is welcome to attend some of the many events USC has on offer. No matter what, the Trojan Family will be out in full force.