Ferris family

Bringing your home to school

With Family and Friends Weekend coming up soon, it is time to start planning what to do with your loved ones. 

The weekend offers a lot of different activities, which can be found on the Ferris website. These activities span from 5:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20 until 1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 22. Events range from a showing of Despicable Me 3 at the University Center on Friday, to the football game on Saturday and the United Way 5k on Sunday. 

In addition to the events Ferris is putting on for students and their visitors, Big Rapids offers other attractions for anyone trying to experience the town. One event that the University is offering is a shuttle to historic downtown Big Rapids, where visitors can explore the shops and see the town. 

“Kilwins downtown is really cute, it’s a good place to get ice cream,” pre-pharmacy junior Megan McGrath said. “There are a lot of good food places downtown that not a lot of people from out of town know about, so it’s cool to show people and there are a lot of good parks too.” 

For many students, Family and Friends Weekend offers them a chance to share their college experiences with their loved ones and allow their visitors to experience both Ferris and Big Rapids. 

“Your family is your life, you lived with them for 18 years and I think it’s important for them to see what your new life is like. It’s cool for them to be able to see what you do at school,” McGrath said. “It’s cool to see what our school has to offer and what we do on the weekends.” 

For students who want to stay on campus for the weekend, there are multiple family friendly events set up for them. 

“Obviously the football game is a lot of fun and is family friendly, as well as the movie which is good if you have little siblings,” pre-pharmacy junior Chloe Masterson said. “I definitely suggest going to Schubergs downtown if you want a really good burger and Gypsy is a really nice place, right on the river. Cute place and great food.”