There is usually thinking that college is supposed to be the best time in your life. Often, this is true for many, as they get to enjoy newfound freedom away from their parents and guardians, meeting new friends, and experiencing new fun things. However, one aspect of going to college that many people don’t talk about is homesickness. Below are practical ways to deal with homesickness in college life.
Bring Home Comforts
Just because you are relocating and setting down roots away from home, it doesn’t mean you have to struggle with adjusting to a new environment. To make it easier on you, bring some home comforts to your dorm room. Often, a family photo, souvenirs, and beddings have a tremendous impact on how welcomed you will feel anytime you step in your dorm room. For this reason, take as much as your dorm room allows you so you could feel more at ease in your new surroundings.
Occasionally Call Home
Unlike getting out of an abusive relationship, you do not need to cut off all ties with your loved ones to get over feeling homesick. You should aim to do the opposite and keep in touch when you aren’t busy with your studies. Ideally, homesickness is usually your mind’s way of letting you know you are missing your home-loving environment. Reach out to them and call from time to time and enjoy the comfort it brings.
However, when you do so, avoid calling multiple times a day just to say hello. Reduce it to once a day to every other day until you reach a point where a call home doesn’t trigger the feeling of homesickness.
Socialize
As tempting as it may be, sitting in your room and thinking about how much you miss home will only make your homesickness worse. One way of dealing with this is to get out and meet new people. Meeting new people allows you to find new friends with whom you will reminisce and share home life experiences without being saddened by them.
However, note that if the feeling of homesickness becomes overwhelming, and it borders on depression, you should reach out for professional help. A counselor will be better equipped in helping you navigate and cope with the negative repercussions of homesickness.
Look After Yourself
Avoid the temptation of sleeping and excessively eating all day when you aren’t attending your lectures. Often, disregarding your mental and physical health will make feeling of homesickness worse. Instead, choose to get sufficient sleep but not to the point you are in a depressive state. Additionally, choose to eat healthy balanced meal portions and schedule a time for exercise for a release of feel good hormones.
Give Yourself Ample Time
For many students, homesickness hits them when the excitement of discovering new things wears off. Instead of ignoring the feeling and try to suppress it by doing more, allow yourself to feel homesick and understand it’s a normal process. Don’t be hard on yourself, believing that something is wrong with you. Give yourself ample time to adjust and love your new life.
Keep Busy And Give It A Chance
A successive way of dealing with homesickness is by keeping yourself busy. Do so by getting busy with your studies and the various activities available throughout campus. Doing so allows you to keep up with new study information. But, anytime you find yourself busy and late for classwork, remember you can pay someone to take a test for you before you adjust to college life.
Such a person will act as a research assistant and later on, when you back and settled, you will pass over your well-done research and test before submitting it to your professor if you need to. As expected, doing so reduces the time spent wallowing in pity.
Conclusion
As seen above, being homesick is perfectly normal for many people. Realize that this is not a foreign feeling and that you are never too old to miss home. Give yourself ample time to adjust and purposefully keep yourself busy. Above all, don’t be ashamed of homesickness and visit and call home when you need to. Bring with you home comforts that will quell your anxiety and minimize your feeling of homesickness.