How to Get Your Life Together for Parents' Weekend

Heads up, Class of 2016– Junior Parents' Weekend is just a few days away! While it’s always nice to spend time with family (and have a nice meal paid for, obviously), this parent's weekend won’t be quite as easy to get through as when you were a freshman. After all, you’re a junior in college now, which means you’re expected to have your life together...well, at least a little. Here are a couple of tips to help you impress Mom and Dad.

1. Clean Your Room  
You might be 21 now, but the empty handle of Rubinoff and scattered beer cans in your common room trashcan need to go. But let’s be honest– besides taking out the trash, does anyone have time to clean up for real? You’ll probably end up kicking as much of your stuff under your bed/into your closet the hour before they arrive on campus and then avoiding your dorm like the plague, anyway.

2. Do Laundry
Even if you’ve still got a few pairs of clean socks left. Because nothing says “You pay $60k a year for me to skip all of my lectures” like the overwhelming odor of dirty clothes and apathy that’s taken over your bedroom. And no, just emptying an entire bottle of Febreeze into the air doesn’t count.

3. Have Something to Say About Your Summer/Future
And if you don’t, then just mumble something obscure but impressive-sounding enough that they can brag to your relatives about it. People on campus may be freaking out about interview season, but try and not let the stress of not knowing (slash not hearing back about funding yet...I’m looking at you, OCS) get in the way of enjoying your parents’ company.

4. Have Plans For Them
Parents loooove events. It’s just a fact. If you have stuff for them to do once they’re on campus, they’ll love you for it. (Especially if those things are super “Harvard,” because they’re still incredibly proud of you and want to feel like they’re a part of it.) Anyway, you’re probably already being inundated with Facebook invites to improv shows, a capella jams, very important famous people giving speeches, and networking events, so you might as well suggest a few of the more interesting ones.