Eagles tell us what it’s like to go to BC with their sibling

In true Eagles fashion, we’re welcoming the Class of 2020 with some of the best of BC: Boston College families. This is the first part in a three-part series about siblings at BC. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle. 

It’s a dream come true when you get into BC…and even more so for parents when their children decide to go to college together. This may or may not hold true for the kids themselves.

The Tab tracked down current students with siblings who also go to Boston College to understand their experience as being a part of a bigger BC family.

Bryan (2014), Courtney (2015), and Patrick McCauley (2017) 

Did either of your parents go to BC? If not, have your parents become BC fanatics?
Our parents both attended Boston College and met on a blind date during their Junior year and have been together ever since.

Our grandfather, John L. McCauley also went to BC and played football for them. Clearly we hold the school near and dear to our hearts and come from a family of extremely proud alumni.

Best and worst thing about having an older/younger sibling?
We can only think of positive things. This was the first time we had the opportunity to all be in school together, seeing as Bryan and Patrick went to private schools and Courtney attended public school. And we can truly say after a year spent all together as Eagles, it changed our dynamic for the better. We grew extremely close.

How often do you eat together?
We did weekly dinner dates. Be it on Lower or off-campus, we made a conscious effort to take advantage of the time we had together.

Has it helped you get into mods/parties?
Having a sibling at BC really helps you become acclimated quickly into the social scene. For Courtney and Patrick, they had it made. Bryan made sure they were the first to know about up coming parties at bars or in the mods, and not once did they ever have a problem being invited in. Family connections goes a long way at BC, and they were extremely Fortunate enough to have the opportunity to leverage this advantage.

How did having an older sibling affect your decision to come to Boston College?
Bryan said: “having two of my younger siblings come to BC was the best thing that happened. I was able to share this amazing place with them and could show them all the reasons why I love it, and hopefully that rubbed off on them.

Now hopefully we get our younger brother, Peter, a freshman in high school, to chose to become an Eagle as well.”

Max (2015) and Isabella Prio (2018) – both Marketing and Finance Majors

Did either of your parents go to BC? If not, have your parents become BC fanatics?
Neither of our parents went to BC, but my mom has become a fanatic. She absolutely loves BC because it maintains the Jesuit ideals from our high schools. In addition, nothing is better than to visit both kids who are at college at the same time.

Best thing about having an older/younger sibling?
Max: “Her Meal Plan.”

Bella: “When all else fails, I know I can count on my brother. At the end of the day, the fact that I can be like ‘I’m kind of missing home right now, let me go talk to Max and talk about our little brother and how much we miss him.’ It was definitely critical last year because I was homesick my freshman year and he provided me with a little taste of home.

Worst thing about having an older/younger sibling?
Max: “There is nothing that is bad. I love having family close by and the fact that we can run into each other is amazing. It’s great to have someone from your other life who is around. The only thing is knowing that there is someone who you are kind of responsible for in the vicinity so I have that in the back of my head but it doesn’t really affect the way I live my life.”

Bella:”Where do I begin…Max started his own company his sophomore year. He has a high GPA and a pretty good reputation on campus as being an all around great guy. Then here comes me, and I some how have to live up to that standard. Whenever people hear Prio, they ask, “Oh, are you Max’s little sister?” and I’m like ‘Actually, I am my own individual who is not associated with that brilliant, extraordinary individual.;

“Freshman year it was definitely a huge plus to having a junior brother here. I definitely used him. However, now that I am a sophomore at Walsh the game has changed [laughs].”

How often do you eat together?
Bella: “Now that he has run out of money, I would say four times a week”.

How has your relationship changed since coming to BC? 
Bella: “Max left when I was a sophomore in high school and we had been very close before that, but I think he missed my main developmental years so now in college we are getting to know each other as adults. I was a kid back then and now I am an adult with opinions about things”.

Max: “That’s exactly what I was going to say. When I left, she was still a sophomore in high school so in my eyes she was my brilliant innocent little sister that came home, did her school work. It didn’t even occur to me that I didn’t know much else of what she did in school or her other life. She was just my best friend at home.

And then, I came back from school and she is driving and going out at night. There are girls going in and out of the house and boys waiting outside the house. I didn’t get the gradual change, it was very abrupt. So that aspect of it was weird and now we are dealing with it.”

Do you feel like you’ve had to babysit at all?

Max: “Bella can absolutely handle herself, so she doesn’t need babysitting. However, the protective part of me as her older brother definitely kicks in. Having a younger sister is a completely different ball game than having a younger brother. I’ve tried to avoid putting myself in those situations since I can’t help being protective when we are together.”

Bella:”I would say I don’t need babysitting either. As far as the protective thing, I would say that it goes both ways. The fact that my older brother could be in the area at any time kinda effects how I live my life [laughs]”.

Do you feel more connected to other grade levels at BC? 
Max: “I wouldn’t say with the class but with her friends I do. You get to know more people.”

Bella: “I definitely know more seniors than most sophomores do. As well as hearing stories that has defined their year, such as the homeless man living in Walsh – but I wouldn’t say I’m connected to the entire class even though it  would be great to have those connections.”

Has it helped you get into mods/parties?
Bella: “Freshman year I definitely had the upper-hand to have a junior brother here. I used him a lot. However, now that I am a sophomore at Walsh, things have changed [laughs].”

How did having an older sibling affect your decision to come to Boston College?
“When I came to BC, I was visiting as a senior in high school and Max lived in Walsh. After one weekend, I was blown away at how fun BC could be and I decided that BC was the place for me and was my dream school. I couldn’t imagine us not going to the same school because otherwise we would go six years without really knowing each other. We would have missed all those developmental years and I would have no idea what his life was like and vice versa.”