We’ve all been there, we’ve all had those moments where being at University and away from home gets too much. It’s totally normal. Even the strongest among us will feel it at some point. Homesickness hits different people at different times in their uni career; it could be during freshers or once you go back after the Christmas holidays. As people start going back to Uni after the Easter break, I wanted to offer you some of my best tips to help keep homesickness away.
First, you should probably know something about me and why this is relevant. During my first year at uni, I struggled really bad. I went home lots, probably more than I should have done. I remember thinking why am I even here and what the hell have I gotten myself into. One of my friendships with my closest friends actually developed because we bonded over how much we missed home. However, as my second year comes to a close, I have felt so much more positive and rarely get homesick. I can promise you things get better.
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures.
That’s right, hand pictures on your wall wherever you can. Go crazy: pictures of friends, family, scenery, animals… You name it, get a picture of it. You know the really generic girls university room with fairy lights and polaroids? Yeah, do exactly that. Make sure you have something that reminds you of home and all the things you love. This way, you will have a little piece of home with you in your uni room. This makes it feel much more homely and peaceful. It definitely won’t be drab and grey anymore like it was when you moved in, right?
Talk about it.
This would probably be my best advice: talk about how you feel. A problem shared is a problem halved. When my friend and I bonded over how much we missed home in first year, I had no idea she was feeling the EXACT same way as I did until I bit the bullet and invited her over for a cuppa. She could offer strategies that she was using to try and feel more chill at uni, she said face timing her family really helped her because she could talk to them in real life. I was able to tell her that keeping busy, whether that be through sport or joining a new society at the SU, really helped me when things got tough: I could relax, make new friends and take my mind off things. To this day, we still talk to each other when we are missing home, which I can assure you is a lot less than it was last year! We are proud of how far we have come and how much we now love uni: roll on third year…