Hello everyone! It’s Hannah again.

As preseason camp and the fall semester continue to draw near, many of you guys and girls probably have lots of questions running through your mind. As R.A.T. Leaders, it’s part of our job to handle those questions and to make sure that each of you has a wonderful transition into the Auburn family. However, with over 150 R.A.T.s, it’s not really possible for Allison, Jake, John, and me to be available for one-on-one time with each of you. That’s where the R.A.T. Parent program comes in! While you may have heard us mention a little bit about R.A.T. Parents at Camp War Eagle, what they actually are and how it all works may have completely been lost in the whirlwind of facts being thrown in your direction (thus, the purpose of this blog).

First of all, I think it’s nice for you all to know that R.A.T. Parents are complete volunteers. These guys and girls sign up for the plain and simple reason that they just want to meet, get to know, and help you out. So with that being said, I’d like to encourage you all to take advantage of their volunteer efforts. If you have questions, ask them. Whether your questions are about school, band, or just college life in general, odds are your R.A.T. Parent will be more than happy to at least try and answer if for you. Introduce them to the friends you’ve made so far, and ask them to introduce you to theirs. You never know what kind of friendships you might make!

So how exactly does it work? How will you know who your R.A.T. Parent is, and when will you find out?

Well, a few days before you all come to camp, the rest of the R.A.T. Leaders and I will sit down and assign R.A.T.s to their prospective parents. The process is totally random, with none of us knowing what to expect. Male R.A.T.s are assigned to female returning marchers (a.k.a.: your R.A.T. Mom) and female R.A.T.s are assigned to male returning marchers (of course, your R.A.T. Dad).

Then, after the second evening practice of camp, all of you R.A.T.s and your expecting parents will return to the band hall for R.A.T. Adoptions. At this time, you will be split into two groups (male R.A.T.s and Moms, female R.A.T.s and Dads). The R.A.T. Leaders will then call out each of your names, and you will be introduced to your parent. Some parents will end up with twins, and even new staff members are adopted.

After the big reveal, everyone heads back up to the band field for a time of socializing and ice cream (which is free for the R.A.T.s, courtesy of your R.A.T. parent). This is a great time to get to know more about your parent and to meet several new people. For us older members, it’s always a lot of fun to meet our friends’ adopted R.A.T.s.

So that is pretty much it about the R.A.T. Parent program. As I mentioned earlier, it is a randomized process of assignments. With the being said, it is of course impossible to determine just exactly how each R.A.T. and parent match will hit it off. Sometimes, it’s a perfect set-up, other times it’s not so perfect. However, should the latter be the case for you, I still want to encourage you to take your R.A.T. Parent up on all they have to offer. Just because the two of you are not meant to be best friends forever, that doesn’t mean that his or she cannot help you out or answer your questions.

I hope you all are getting super excited about camp (I think I say that a lot). It’s only a little more than a week away! I look forward to meeting you all!

War Eagle :D

~Hannah