International students celebrate Moms Weekend away from mothers

By Earn Saenmuk

When asking an international student about his or her plans for Moms Weekend, the following responses have come up:

“Is it like all the moms will come to campus and they will have a family reunion or something?”

“I have no idea what it is.”

“We have that too? Is it like mother’s day?”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

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“There’s no such thing.”

While the University is holding a variety of events during the weekend specifically for students and their moms, many international students cannot enjoy the privileges the weekend brings because it is physically impossible for their moms to come visit.

For example, Sarah Chen, junior in LAS, explained that since her mom cannot visit from Taiwan, she has never done anything special for Moms Weekend.

She is not alone. Instead of taking a part in the events, many international students said they feel that the events during Moms Weekend are focusing more on the U.S. students, especially those from Illinois and its surrounding states.

“When I see all the Moms Weekend things around campus, I just think it’s kind of sad to be so far from home,” said Chenhao Zhang, junior in LAS from China. “Well, there’s nothing I can do anyway.”

Zhang said although there is no official restrictions for international students to participate in Moms Weekend’s events, it would be better if the University had something especially for international students.

Palod Limsiri, sophomore in Engineering, said he sometimes talks to his parents on Skype during Moms Weekend. Limsiri is originally from Thailand.

“I don’t know if it actually is a Moms Weekend thing, but I would call [my parents] and tell them about Moms Weekend,” he said.

Last time Limsiri saw his family was during summer break last year, and he said he is sometimes jealous of students whose parents can visit frequently. He said he went to Moms Weekend’s musicals last year, and enjoyed it. However, most people went with their moms, so he felt a little out of place.

“College is tough, and I have to do everything all by myself,” Limsiri said. “It would have been nice if I can spend a day more with my family, too.”

Earn can be reached at [email protected]