With Parents’ Weekend upon us, the campus will be buzzing with preparation, cleaning of dorm rooms and arranging of weekend activity plans. It’s hard to believe that for those students living on campus, we have been out from under the umbrella of home-life for almost a month already. Whether students talk to their parents three times a day, or only when they come home for breaks, the truth remains that students rely on a place they call “home.”

It has often been stated that “home is where the heart is,” but for students who do not have the opportunity to go home more than a few times a year, “home” is far more than that. Whether students come from a single parent or guardian living in a city apartment, or from a family of several siblings, cousins and pets, the fact remains that, when on campus or out of the house, there is a comfort in the thought of going home.

For many seniors, maybe going home is the last possible thing on their “to-do” lists, as they cannot create any lasting college memories at home without their college friends. For freshmen, it is possible that home is a place where they long to be, with high school friendships and fond memories still pressing on their minds. For students who commute to campus, maybe the concept of home has never really changed too dramatically. Either way, whether students make a daily commute to and from campus, or if they visit their house twice a year, each student has some concept of “home.”

Granted, most families don’t run as smoothly as they always seem to do on “Full House” or “Seventh Heaven,” but a family is something upon which people should be able to rely. Ranging from a frantic call in a time of crisis to a calm and friendly call “just to say hello,” a family should never be further than a phone call away.

Living out of the house for several months can cause students to make Villanova feel like their “home away from home.” In a community such as ours, the combination of professors, students and overall atmosphere is oftentimes as welcoming and comforting as parents and family used to be. With a warm welcome to parents on campus, and an encouragement to make the most of the opportunity of having them here, keep in mind that no matter how good or bad things seem, “there’s no place like home.”