After a month and 10 days, I finally got to reunite with my best friend Brock, who also happens to be my brother, in Kansas!

Being only 16 months apart, it has been very quiet and strange not having him around, so it was very nice being able to see him again. He attends Benedictine College in the small town of Atchison, Kansas, and plays football there. Only 2,200 students go to the school, but let me tell you, the campus is quite literally breathtaking. Brock says “The welcoming and inclusive environment of BC is what sold me. Football is cool too.” Benedictine College was founded in 1858, so it was beautiful all around. From the way the buildings were made, to the landscape of all the flowers and trees, it did not disappoint. 

Now onto the fabulous festivities that I encountered over the weekend. We explored the small town, ate fried food, went to the football game, ate more fried food, walked around the whole campus, got some ‘merch’, and you guessed it, ate even more fried food. In a small town of only 10,000 people, there aren’t many food options. So they choose only the absolute best options at all 5 places. Chicken fingers for the kids, and beer for the adults. Nothing but the best!

Like I mentioned before, the school is welcoming, but so is the town. Everyone was so nice and was always smiling. Everywhere we went, we met more and more people. And it was probably because they saw some new faces in town, but we can ignore that. What made the weekend even better was that, everyone we talked to, told us that Brock, my brother, “is at the right place.” If hearing that made me feel good, I know that it also made my mom and dad feel even better. 

As sad as it was to leave him and be back to 1,595 miles apart, and forever being scarred from the many chicken fingers, I was happy to finally be able to reunite with my best friend. It also makes me happy that family weekend is a thing at colleges. It gives families of students the reassurance they needed, to know that their daughter, son, brother, or sister, is at the right place.