How to Deal with Homesickness in College
How to Deal with Homesickness in College
Moving away from home the first time can be liberating. When you first get to college, you’re meeting new people all the time, learning new ideas from your professors and spend a good chunk of time adjusting to living on your own and with roommates. It’s okay if the transition to college isn’t the smoothest at first or even later on.
Feeling homesick during college doesn’t make you immature or any less independent than you already are.
It’s completely normal to feel a even a tiny bit nostalgic about the time when you weren’t living on your own, especially if you’re super close to your family. One thing to consider is that homesickness is a symptom of not establishing deep enough of support system where you currently are.
If you’re spending a majority of time not feeling a genuine connection to those you surround yourself with at SSU, then it makes sense that you’re reminiscing about the past.
Being homesick means that not fully comfortable in your new environment yet, but who doesn’t like a challenge?
Start chatting it up with your classmates, neighbors and especially your roommates. Being closer and more comfortable with your immediate community means you’ll spend less time missing home. For some students, feeling homesick can also be a delayed response—
After the rush of constantly meeting new people dies down and the stress of classes starts to kick in as midterms and finals approach, feeling homesick can be pretty common.
If you’re feeling homesick, being able to go back and visit before any long break is an entirely personal decision. Sticking it out until the next break is one option--by going this route, you’re forcing yourself to wait out your feelings. If you have the time and resources to make a quick weekend trip home, do it if it’ll make you feel better.
One or two visits should be good enough to get through any rough patches, but don’t make going home every weekend a habit if you don’t need to. If you’re visiting home every single weekend, you’re selling your college experience short and missing out on forming better relationships at your NEW home.
To get past this, try to remember what exactly about home makes you miss it.
Obviously your old family and friends can’t be here with you all the time, but keeping in contact with them while branching out to form new friendships is an important fix. Think about traditions or things you always did at home and try to replicate them at your new home. Lastly, establish new activities and hobbies that differentiate your new home at Sonoma State from your old home in a positive way like discovering fresh places that are exclusive to Sonoma County.
As cliche as it sounds, missing home is something that lessens with time. It may not go away completely, but grounding yourself and really making the effort to branch out at your new home will give you the confidence to thrive.