The 101st homecoming here at Colorado State University is upon us, annual Greek competition is in full swing and students are getting ready to welcome their parents to campus.

Since I am an out-of-state resident, my parents only visited me during homecoming week of my freshman year, so for my second year, now I will be a lone wolf. I know I am not the only one, though. There are many out-of-state students here at CSU, and even students from in state don’t have parents who come visit them during homecoming. Just because your parents aren’t visiting doesn’t mean you will have a bad weekend, and Thanksgiving break is coming up in a few weeks.

So what’s a Ram to do with no parents during homecoming?

Read below for some helpful tips on how to deal with homecoming and no parents to hang with during parent’s weekend.

The first and most important tip, in my opinion, is to not dwell on the fact that your parents aren’t coming. Instead, realize that everyone whose parents are visiting is getting nagged about dirty houses and apartments, among other popular points of nagging among parents, while you just get to sit back and relax. Parents are so enjoyable to be around, but also remember that there are many reasons you went to college, and a main reason for a lot of you is probably freedom from your parents.

It is hard not to get wrapped up in the fact that you feel like you’re the only one without parents. Let me tell you, you’re not. Find some other students whose parents aren’t participating in homecoming and hang out with them: go out to dinner, see a movie, go to the homecoming football game and, dare I say, go to a party during parent’s weekend. Nobody is alone in any situation, there is likely someone else going through the same problems you have. Just reach out to your Ram community — we are a Ramily and we are known for looking out for each other.

This has to be my favorite tip of all: for those of you still stuck on the idea of doing fun stuff with parents, find a friend’s parents who will adopt you for the weekend. Parents love their kids, but they also have a soft spot for students whose parents are unable to make it to homecoming. I like to call this “getting adopted for the weekend.” Hang out with a friend and their parents, as long as they permit you to do so. Don’t just randomly third-wheel them. Their parents are likely to take you out to dinner and allow you to join them for homecoming festivities.

For more information on homecoming events, visit http://homecoming.colostate.edu/.

Don’t let your parents not coming to homecoming stop you from enjoying all that this special week has to offer. Go to the parade and the football game, and enjoy yourself no matter who you are with.

Collegian Columnist Tamra Smalewitz can be reached at hmcgill@collegian.com or on Twitter @tamrasmalewitz.