Drew and Teri Hood traveled hundreds of miles this weekend to see their daughter Haley, a first-year undeclared student at UCLA.
The Hoods, who live near Sacramento, had not seen their daughter since July 13.
“But we’re not counting,” said Drew Hood, laughing.
The Hoods were among 3,800 siblings, parents and students registered for the eighth annual Parents’ Weekend at UCLA.
The event was designed to acquaint parents with the campus and give students and parents time to catch up after the first month of school.
Parents participated in lectures, tours and rallies about the campus and student life throughout the weekend.
The lectures were given by faculty members and covered a range of topics, including Confucianism’s relationship with Buddhism and a cellphone that can detect disease.
On Friday, a double-decker bus tour took families through the UCLA campus and Westwood to show parents the surrounding neighborhood.
It allowed parents to better understand the environment and the way their students live every day, Teri Hood said.
The Hoods also said they were grateful for the opportunity UCLA provided for them to visit their daughter again, while reflecting on their own college years.
“(It’s) really impressive how they involve the families here,” Drew Hood said.
“It wasn’t like that when I was in college at all. I got dropped off and then picked up four years later.”
Dan and Gail McGill, of Bakersfield, also said there was nothing quite as large-scale as Parents’ Weekend at their respective alma maters.
They said the weekend was also good timing for a visit because their daughter Jocelyn, a first-year biochemistry student, had just finished her midterms and was able to spend time with them.
For some parents, the weekend helped ease the transition of sending their students to UCLA.
Martine and Eric Trusz said they wanted their son Guillaume, a first-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, to stay closer to home in the Bay Area.
Martine Trusz said she wanted him to go to UC Berkeley so she could visit him more often.
Having visited this weekend, Martine Trusz said she was content with her son’s situation now.
She said she could tell Guillaume felt at home at UCLA.
The event wasn’t only for parents of first-years and transfer students. Fritz and Stella Hoffman were at Parents’ Weekend for the fourth time.
The family from Fair Oaks, Calif. came to visit its daughter Chelsea, a fifth-year in her last quarter of school as a civil engineering student.
The Hoffmans said they had only missed one year of Parents’ Weekend festivities.
Although they have noticed less extravagance in the event since the first year they visited, when they were bused to that weekend’s football game and served appetizers, they still enjoyed their weekend.
“(It’s) nice to do this for our last year,” Fritz said. “Next year we need an invitation.”