Part 2: Eagles talk about going to BC with their siblings

‘She showed me Kirkwood and I was in awe’

This is the second part in a three-part series about siblings at BC. See part one. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

The Tab sat down, family style, with siblings at BC to talk move-in day horrors, mod parties, and family dinners. Because “I only eat with them if they offer to cook or pay.”

Brianna Giarraputo (2015, MAS ’16), Erica Giarraputo (2017) and Joseph Giarraputo (2018)

Did either of your parents go to BC? If not, have your parents become BC fanatics?

No, people ask that all the time but neither of our parents went to BC. Since the three of us have been here though they’ve started tailgating so they’re pretty much here every weekend during football season. It’s safe to say they have definitely become BC fanatics.

What’s the best and worst thing about having an older/younger sibling?

Brianna: “The best thing is probably having my sister’s closet so close. We always shared clothes at home and I really like that her closet followed me to BC. I think the worst thing is that we all have to move in at the same time at the beginning of the year. The car is packed and it takes days to move all our stuff in. If you think move-in day is a pain, just think about doing it three times in a row.”

Erica: “The worst thing about having an older sister at BC is that she thinks my closet is her closet. Sometimes she takes my stuff without telling me and thinks I won’t notice, but of course I do. The best thing about having two siblings here is that I always have a travel buddy to go home, and my brother to carry my stuff.”

Joseph: “The best thing about having two older sisters here is the extra meal plan money at the end of the semester. I always run out and they always have plenty for me to enjoy all of my meals. The worst thing is that are always checking up on me, making sure that I am studying when I should be and that I’ve eaten something besides late night.”

How often do you eat together?

Brianna: “I only eat with them when I provide the food, so it doesn’t really happen very often. I do take part of Erica’s meal plan though so while I’m not eating with her, she’s sort of there in spirit every time I go to the dining hall.”

Erica: “We really only eat together when Brianna cooks a big ‘family dinner,’ she likes to think that she cooks for us all the time, but in reality it’s only about two-three times per semester.”

Joseph: “I only eat with them if they offer to cook or pay.”

How has your relationship changed since coming to BC? 

Brianna: “I think we’re better friends than we were before we were all at BC. At home we went to family parties together and argued as siblings do, but now we sometimes hang out together just because we want to.”

Erica: “I think we’re closer in a different way. We’re all pretty involved in each other’s lives even though we don’t see each other that often. Our conversations are less about how much we annoy each other and more about things happening with our friends, classes, or just on campus.”

Joseph: “We all have more in common since going to BC. It’s nice that we can talk about Mod parties without having to explain what the Mods are.”

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

Brianna: “Not really. The only time I feel like that is when my parents or grandparents call and ask me all these questions about my siblings. Questions I wouldn’t know unless I was with them 24/7. What did Joseph do last night? What is Erica having for dinner? How was Joseph’s test today? Was Erica’s work order fixed yet? I try to explain to them that I don’t see them as much as they think I do but I don’t think they understand.”

Do you feel more connected to other grade levels at BC? 

Brianna: “I notice it more this year than any other year. All of my friends graduated in May so now walking around campus as a grad student the only people I recognize are my siblings’ friends. I get weirdly excited when I see one of them now because it doesn’t happen very often.”

Erica: “I have definitely noticed that I see more familiar faces as I’m walking around campus, but at the same time, BC is big enough that not everyone knows that I have siblings here, nonetheless who my siblings are.”

Has it helped you get into mods/parties?

Erica: “I’ve always really just done my own thing and made my own friends. We go to school at the same place, but that doesn’t mean we have to hang out all the time. It’s nice to have the option and sometimes we hang out with each other’s friends but on the weekends we typically don’t see each other.”

Joseph: “Freshman year it definitely helped having older siblings here because I could go down to Lower and actually have a destination instead of wandering around. Sometimes we’ll run into each other at a mod party, which is always funny. One time last year I ran into Brianna in a random mod and had her introduce me to her friend who lived there so that I had an answer when someone asked ‘Who do you know here?'”

How did having an older sibling affect your decision to come to Boston College?

Erica: “For me, having Brianna here played a pretty big role. I’m more of a homebody so having that extra piece of home was really comforting especially freshman year.”

Joseph: “It definitely impacted my decision to come here when I was picking a school because I could see how much they enjoyed everything about BC, from sporting events to classes. From that I could definitely see myself fit in at BC.”

Do you feel more connected to other grade levels at BC?

Joseph: “I know a lot of their friends and see them around campus, but I mean BC is so big that I can make my own friends and don’t need my siblings’ friends to feel connected to other grades.”

Justine Yunakov (2015) Finance and Marketing and Jason Yunakov (2018) Finance

Did either of your parents go to BC? If not, have your parents become BC fanatics?

Justine: “Neither of our parents came to BC but they have become fanatics. We are the only two in our family who are in school yet so the only thing they have been exposed to is BC.”

Best thing about having an older/younger sibling?

Justine: “We come from a close family so it is nice to have someone here. When I was alone, before I came to school and had someone here in Boston with me it felt lonely when my family would do stuff together at home. Our other cousin also goes to school in Boston so it is nice to have family around you.”

Jason: “When we go back I don’t have to take the greyhound because Justine has a car. Usually, me and Justine’s friends travel back together so we squad out and travel back so it’s a lot of fun.”

Worst thing about having an older/younger sibling?

Jason: “Seeing Justine at parties.”

Justine: “Jason hounding me to use my car. We are not forced to see each other because we are not in the same friend group. It’s nice because when we want to see each other we can but we don’t have to.”

Jason: “She shows me to the parties but I have to watch her once I’m there.”

How often do you eat together?

Jason: “Last year we did a lot because she lived on campus.”

Justine: “Now that I am not on campus, I drive a lot so I am not around a lot. But we still try to meet up at least once a week.”

How has your relationship changed since coming to BC? 

Justine: “I think it has changed a lot. I feel that Jason was more immature before he came to BC so we didn’t have the same relationship we had before at home compared to now. I feel like people grow when they get to college and become more independent. Now we have a more adult relationship.”

Jason: “Being with your sibling with your parents not being there has a different dynamic. Me and Justine are more comfortable doing a lot more things together so we have a pretty good time.”

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

Justine: “I don’t need to babysit Jason but definitely calm him down. We are both independent people. Jason is an individual so it is just trying to tone him down not that he listens [laughs].”

Jason: “She tried to keep me out of trouble.”

Do you feel more connected to other grade levels at BC? 

Justine: “Definitely. All my friends on campus know Jason. There are also so many younger people who I feel that I now know because of Jason. Since BC is such a small school, without Greek life it is harder to get to meet people from other grades unless you go out of your way to do something. So having him as a younger brother has allowed me to meet people I wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise.”

Jason: “Yeah, she gets to meet all my cool friends. In addition, I have known Justine’s friends for a while now so it is cool to see them around campus.”

Has it helped you get into mods/parties?

Jason: “I visited Justine junior year in high school when she was a freshman here and she showed me Kirkwood and I was in awe. We are also in the same school so having her here is helpful all around.”

How did having an older sibling affect your decision to come to Boston College?

Jason: “It was the best school I got to and having her here did push me to come. It is a good distance from home. Not to close and not to far. I also got a chance to see how her life was here and I liked it. Boston is also a great city and moving from New York to Boston is a great switch.”

More
Boston College