Last Saturday, 56 little sibs took the campus by storm. Residence Hall Association and SUPB partnered up to put on “Cirque Du Sibs” for John Carroll students and their younger family members. RHA and SUPB have been working hard for a long time to make sure the weekend went well. According the RHA co-president Brittnay Madore, a junior exercise science major, “RHA has been preparing for Lil Sibs Weekend since the beginning of January 2014. We spent most of January brainstorming and working out our budget for the event, and once this was finalized, we were underway contracting entertainment, delegating tasks to RHA general members, and collaborating with SUPB to make this event possible.” Madore also added that they had two main goals for this event: “My first goal was for the JCU students and their sibs to have fun together while participating in our events and crafts. My second goal was for the day to run as smoothly as possible with minimal bumps, which is always a goal of any event RHA does for the residents of JCU.” Madore and the rest of RHA and SUPB definitely accomplished those goals. Saturday was a day full of fun for the little ones and a chance for their older sibs to show them what JCU is like. I’m not sure if I’m ever going to get my little sisters to stop talking about it.
The day started with registration at 10 am. After that, students and their sibs took to the LSC Conference room for crafts and games that many of us hadn’t seen or thought of in years (Connect Four, anyone?). Of course, they had us jam to some Disney tunes—the big sibs that is. After that, the dining hall was open and the little sibs were given tickets to do their damage. If my younger sisters were any indication, they did just that. Saturday was a perfect day for the kiddos to be there because it was warm and the student population emerged from hibernation and proved that people actually do live on campus. There was also free time so the little sibs and their big sibs got to enjoy the warm sun. Island Jeff performed on his steel drum and administered intense hula hooping and limbo contests. From there, it was back to LSC for Bingo and Create Your Own Critter—both of which were a huge hit. Then it was dinner and the grand finale: Frozen. I never went to see the sing-along version of Frozen in the theater, but I imagine it was similar to my experience Saturday. Both big sibs and little sibs were singing along to every song and laughing at every word that came out of Olaf’s mouth. It was perfect. My sisters literally left Dolan cartwheeling and saying they were going to John Carroll.
“Overall, I feel Cirque Du Sibs went very well! RHA did a great job Saturday getting everything set up and conducting the event throughout the day; it made the day run smoothly and displayed how professional our general members are during our largest event of the year. We had a great turn out of sibs, everyone seemed to be engaged and loved our activities throughout the day, and it was a great feeling watching JCU students bringing their little sibs to campus, displaying their inner child,” Madore added. I have to second that. While I’m never shy about letting my inner child out, it was really awesome to let out my inner child along with my little sisters while I got to share John Carroll with them.
As some may have noticed, there was one difference from last year’s weekend to this year’s. Madore explains, “This year was different from last year’s Lil Sibs weekend because RHA decided to only do one day of activities (Saturday only) instead of two days of activities (Friday and Saturday), which was due to our smaller budget this year. Overall, I feel this change was positive for the organization decreasing some of our stresses and tasks for the weekend and could possibly become a new format for this event.” One thing is for sure: the little sibs didn’t notice. They had a good time, regardless.
At the end of the day, I was exhausted and so were my sisters who were passed out 15 minutes into the drive home. While the day might’ve been different than years past, it went smoothly and was a great way for myself and other members of the John Carroll community to share their school with their younger family members while finding an outlet for their inner child. And, Madore assures us that RHA is working hard to develop Sibs Weekend into a bigger event. “Something that RHA is planning on doing next year is engaging the campus more so we can have a larger turnout of little sibs. RHA is always looking to increase the number of students who participate in events since we only have 2-3 events each academic year, which are large campus events that require months of planning, sweat, crafting, and dedication,” she told us. That dedication came through Saturday, and it paid off seeing all the sibs (big and little) enjoying the day. So, if you didn’t bring your little sibs this year, make sure not to miss out next year because there’s nothing cooler than getting to share your school with your little sibs and seeing them get excited about going to college.
From Brittnay Madore: Thank you to SUPB for your help, RHA cannot thank you enough! Thank you to Alexandra Freyvogel, my co-president, your support and dedication helped make this event easier to plan and run smoother! If anyone would like information about RHA, please feel free to contact me at bmadore15@jcu.edu or Alexandra at afreyvogel15@jcu.edu!