This is easily the loneliest weekend of the year, not because of homesickness or because everyone seems to be going home for the weekend, but actually quite the opposite. It’s homecoming weekend at college, the one weekend a year where families are encouraged to come and watch the parade, see the football game and hang out with their college students.

You might wonder how this wonderful tradition could make anyone feel lonely, and the answer to that is simple. My family won’t come. This isn’t news to me, as they haven’t ever come up here for homecoming. My best friend came up my freshmen year, but since then, nobody has come to see me during this family oriented holiday.

I know logically, I’m not the only one. There are people whose families live even further from this town than mine do, who can’t possibly be blamed for not coming all the way across the country, or in some cases, the world just for two days. I know that they don’t choose not to come just to make me feel left out. However, when I see other students my age with their parents following them, or the way their eyes light up at being taken to get real food, I can’t help but feel a little jealous.

I immerse myself in my sorority sisters, and in my close friends who also don’t have family in town, but it really is hard. It’s not that I overly miss them. After all, I saw them just a month and a half ago when they dropped me off for the school year. I just despise what people might think if I have to admit that I don’t have anyone coming to spend time with me this weekend.

As a message to the students who have family in other countries, or in the same country, but far enough away that they either deem it silly to participate in this weekend’s events or they wouldn’t be able to make the drive in one day, don’t feel too bad about it. It most likely isn’t anything you did, and through the years, it does get easier. If you’re in the dorms, it might be hard seeing all of your floormates bringing their parents in and showing them around, but in the end, it doesn’t matter that much.

There is one serious perk I’ve found to not having company on a weekend when most people do. I get to be left alone quite a bit, because everyone is out with their family, or at a football game that I would seriously rather gauge my own eyes out than go to. The quiet is nice, even if it can get lonely or boring. And in just a week, it’ll be fall break. Next month is Thanksgiving. Just because right now, it might seem like a big deal, but you will definitely be okay.