Every weekend, the streets surrounding the freshman dorms have a consistent come-and-go of cars pulling in toward where a student is waiting, bags in hand, to be picked up to go home.
They’ll drive up to two hours home, be there for roughly 48 hours, then drive back late Sunday or early Monday to go to classes. This means that dorms are emptier over the weekend, with the traveling students’ roommates getting alone time in the room for a couple of days.
The reasons for these trips vary, but a common factor is missing some connection, whether it’s parents, friends, significant others or pets. For many freshmen, this is their first time living away from their families.
“I go home so frequently to spend time with my boyfriend and family,” Bella Burd, a freshman at UT studying kinesiology, said.
Burd is from Chattanooga and gets picked up every weekend for the two-hour drive home to spend time with familiar faces. For her, the weekends at home help her reset for the week and keeps her motivated.
“I’ve really enjoyed this new step and I feel like I’ve adjusted better than I thought,” Burd said. “I think being able to see my loved ones so often has definitely helped.”
The location of loved ones can impact stress levels of students. Those who live within driving range, like Burd, find it helpful to go home and recharge. Other families have even relocated alongside their students.
This is the case for Lilia Davis, a freshman marketing major whose family moved from North Carolina to Knoxville at the start of the school year. Now, instead of an hour-plus drive, she is able to take a scooter or walk home every weekend.
“I like hanging out with my parents,” Davis said. “I’m an only child so they miss me, I miss them. And I miss my dog of course.”
While going home means that students can continue to foster preexisting relationships, it also means that they are missing out on weekend activities on campus that would enable them to hang out with new peers.
For some students, this doesn’t bother them much.
“I have friends who I’ve met here who live on campus, so I guess I know what happens on weekends,” Bennett Parker, a freshman studying computer science, said. “I could be here if I chose to, I just choose to go home.”
Parker is from Knoxville, and home is roughly a 20-minute drive from campus.
“It’s easier to spend time with my girlfriend at home is one of the main reasons,” Parker said. “Laundry is easier at home, I have pets there I like to see, my whole gaming set up is in my room, home is so close, there’s no reason not to basically.”
He also noted how much of the typical weekend events, like sports or gatherings, aren’t situations he particularly enjoys.
“I’m also not a person who enjoys partying,” Parker said. “I’m also not a sports person, either, so that’s part of it but it’s not like I feel excluded at all. I could be involved if I wanted to and all that I just choose not to.”
