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Overcoming Homesickness

Almost everyone experience’s homesickness at some point in their lives, regardless of their age. Whether you came from 20 minutes away or 20 hours away, homesickness is not uncommon for college students. Feelings of missing home can come in a variety of ways. For me, my first experience with homesickness was as soon as my family dropped me off at college. I was sad and lonely, and I thought about everyone from home constantly. I was nervous and depressed and kept calling home. I felt bad for crying because my roommate had to listen to me regularly. I thought that I couldn’t move on with my day if I didn’t find a time for me to cry into my pillow. The truth is homesickness is tough, and sometimes it’s hard to battle it, but no one should have to go through it alone. There are ways to cope with it and in this article, you will find tips that have helped other people, including myself on overcoming homesickness.

Explore. The first thing you need to do is explore your surroundings, whether that be walking or driving. You become familiar with your community and find places where you feel most comfortable at. Once you start to get familiar, your feelings of being homesick should start to fade.

Get Involved. Being involved in school activities can help distract you from feeling down and homesick. Joining groups, attending campus events or playing sports, will not only keep you busy enough to not feel homesick, but will help you get yourself out there and meet people. The more people you meet and become friends with, the less you feel homesick.

Find new hobbies. To help your mind wonder away from being homesick, find hobbies to entertain and distract you. Arts and crafts, fitness, outdoor activities, cooking, reading, anything. Find something to do other than lying in bed being sad.

Stay connected. It is important to keep in touch with family and friends, whether that’s through phone calls, texts, or social media.  Just remember to have control over yourself and to not constantly keep calling home.

Talk to others about your feelings. It’s good to talk to someone about how you are feeling. If you share your feeling with others, you’ll see you are not alone. It helps you become connected with other students and it will help you adjust to being at college.

Keep a journal. Getting your thoughts down on paper might amaze you because of how better you feel. If you aren’t comfortable opening to someone you can just write it down. Writing your thoughts may help you see why you are homesick and may help you overcome it.

Bring items from home. Having items from your hometown is like bringing a little bit of home to you when you can’t physically be home. Put up pictures of you and friends or family, bring a favorite blanket or something that reminds you of home. This will bring comfort and help you get over being homesick.

Focus on the positives. It’s important to look at the positive aspects of life. You are here for a reason, take a step back, breathe and just remember why you are where you are.

Overtime your feelings of homesickness will eventually fade, and you’ll grow more comfortable in your college environment. Keep fighting, and just remember that your home will always be there for you. Go out and explore, get involved, make friends, and have fun. College is supposed to be the time of your life, so make it that way!