UCLA Parents’ Weekend 2014 a relative success

His kids complained about getting two roommates, but he had 11.

Thirty years ago, Zelalem Aychiluhim was a first-year mechanical engineering student in Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Now his daughter, Bethel Aychiluhim, is a first-year biology student at UCLA.

Having moved to the United States from Ethiopia about 20 years ago, Aychiluhim came down from his current home in Tracy, to attend UCLA Parents’ Weekend on Saturday.

Aychiluhim, who visits Ethiopia every few years, said he is constantly reminded of how different his childhood home is from the place he now lives. At Parents’ Weekend, he saw the contrast even in the dining halls where his daughter would eat every day.

Family members attended Parents’ Weekend and participated in presentations from UCLA professors, cultural exhibits and panel discussions. Parents were also able to attend a basketball and football game with their kids during the three-day-long event.

Registration fees were $65 per person, though the relatives of students who qualify for the Academic Advancement Program were offered a reduced rate of $25, according to a UCLA press release.

The theme of the 15th annual event was “Come Together,” which encouraged students to incorporate their family members into college life by familiarizing them with the campus.

Those who came to Parents’ Weekend were able to attend a welcome lecture from Chancellor Gene Block and eat meals together with other visiting relatives. Discussions were offered by professor of geography and Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, as well as workshops about the 2014-2015 Common Book “I Never Had it Made,” written by Jackie Robinson, a UCLA alumnus.

Meetings, such as “Greek Life: What to Expect When Your Student Pledges,” explained the process of supporting students who have completed the rush process and joined a sorority or fraternity, while others gave a general overview of what academic and social life is like on campus.

Aychiluhim said he thinks his daughter has been thrown into a very different world since coming to UCLA. She graduated from Millennium Charter High School with a class of 130 students. Now she lives on a floor in Dykstra Hall that houses almost the same number of people.

“I think the size of the school is good, and I like that the campus is a bit secluded; some schools are right in the city and it can be a bit of a distraction for students,” Aychiluhim said. “Here, even though everything is a stone’s throw away, you can avoid the distractions if you want to.”

Because Parents’ Weekend is scheduled in between fourth week and fifth week, students are often in the midst of testing when their relatives arrive. Some said their studies cut into time with family.

“We didn’t get to do too much yesterday because I had two midterms, but we’re excited to go to the game tonight,” said Clare Camilleri, a second-year undeclared life science student, whose parents traveled to see her from Pennsylvania.

Some undergraduates said their parents couldn’t come because of difficulties with travel arrangements, including buying plane tickets and reserving hotel space. But others got lucky.

“It was very spur-of-the-moment,” said Clare Camilleri’s mother, Deirdra Camilleri. “She texted me on Wednesday saying she was (upset) that her dad and I weren’t planning to come out. And by Friday, I had a flight and hotel booked.”