When business and psychology sophomore Meaghen Murray first came to MSU, she was excited for a new beginning. However, she realized she left more behind than she thought.
“Last year I was really excited to come to college for the first time. I was like, ‘Aw yes, I get to get away from my brothers, my family — I can start fresh,’” Murray said. “I just felt like a part of me was missing.”
That missing piece was Murray’s younger brothers, Matthew, 6, and Michael, 14.
“They’re basically the love of my life,” Murray said.
Her brothers came to visit her this past weekend for the MSU University Activities Board’s annual Lil’ Sibs Weekend. Murray, a member of the spirit and traditions committee with UAB, helped run some of the events on campus.
“I just felt like I wasn’t in their lives anymore,” Murray said, adding that her family is her first priority. “We were just brought up to be really close with one another.”
Murray and her brothers are from Commerce Township, about 65 miles southeast of East Lansing.
Weekend events included games at the Union, a wildlife demonstration, photo scavenger hunt and tour of Breslin Center.
It was the Murrays’ first time participating in Lil’ Sibs Weekend.
“It’s just fun family time (because) we just don’t get to see my sister a lot,” Michael said.
Michael and Matthew spent Friday night in Murray’s all girls dorm floor in East Holden Hall with Murray, her roommate, Spanish sophomore Dominique Sanchez and her two siblings, Mari and Miguel, 8.
“I can share my everyday experience with them,” Murray said. “Even though I don’t really go and participate in games every night and take tours of the Breslin Center, just to show them a piece of my life is just really inspiring to them.”