Managing Homesickness for College Students (and others in transition)
Going back to school, or starting school brings on a variety of challenges. If you are going away, many college-aged students experience homesickness. Homesickness is uncomfortable, but you can tolerate it and you can enjoy college even while experiencing it. I have a few thoughts and tips for anyone who might be struggling with it.
Understand that it is common and normal to miss home. Many college students experience this, and it almost always gets better with time.
Make sure to challenge yourself with new experiences and stay busy. You are much more likely to miss home if you are not actively working on making your new home a priority. Join clubs, get to know your campus or college town, eat meals with your roommates, etc. If it is scary, that’s okay! Growth is typically scary to some extent and that does NOT mean you should avoid new experiences.
Don’t make a habit of returning home regularly, or talking to loved ones on the phone at length daily. You might be tempted to rush home on weekends to see family and old friends. While it is okay to do that SOMETIMES, I don’t recommend doing it frequently or early on. When you do this you miss opportunities to get to know and bond with new friends and your new community.
Remember, you are in charge of yourself in more ways than you likely were before. Build healthy eating habits, don’t drink or use harmful substances to deal with feelings, get to bed at a reasonable time, and get exercise. When we take good care of ourselves we are building good self-discipline skills, and this helps us to be more in control of ourselves and our decisions.
If you find yourself continuing to feel lonely, tearful, or afraid, consistently and it does not seem to improve, talk to someone at your campus health center. They can walk you through what to do next. You can also reach out to an outside therapist through psychologytoday.com or using your insurance plan.
That’s it! Do your best and understand that if you follow these ideas, you are likely to feel at least a little better, quicker than you think!
