You pet every dog you see on the street because you think of yours everyday, you’re tired of eating the same ol’ ramen noodles (even with Kylie Jenner’s recipe) and you can’t help but compare every new person you meet to your best friends back home. These three instances can only mean one thing–you are feeling the homesick blues.
First things first, this is completely normal. If it is your first time being away from home, this feeling can occur when your family leaves you on the first day, or maybe when you’re eating dinner by yourself. The point that I cannot emphasize enough is that you are not alone, even when you feel like you are. There is most definitely someone out there who feels the exact same way. Also, feeling homesick doesn’t stop after freshman year; you can feel homesick even in your senior year of college.
Home is home and that is never going to change. However, rather than focusing on the sadness of not being home, there are fun activities to focus your energy on and plenty of ways to make wherever you’re living to feel more “homey.” Here are some of my personal favorite tips to battling homesickness.
1. Hang Pictures
Bare walls in your apartment or dorm are no fun, so why not hang pictures? The key is to choose pictures of whatever reminds you of home. Hanging these pictures will give you the opportunity to look at them whenever you want and feel a little closer to home than you did before.
2. Write Letters
Sounds old-fashioned, doesn’t it? People could always call or text, but letters are out-of-the-ordinary which makes them special. I still write letters to my family back home, and the excitement of receiving my mom’s latest letter never gets old.
3. Explore Your Campus
Instead of focusing on your desire to go back home, go discover the hidden treasures your campus has to offer! Events on campus happen almost every day, and chances are you’ll pass by one if you just take a stroll. Join a club, a sport or a study group with your classmates to truly discover all your campus has to offer.
4. Become a Cooking Connoisseur
Dinner time tends to be the time of the day when students miss their families the most for two reasons. First, it is a time when families gather to talk about their days. It’s also a time to eat delicious food, which tends to be much less delicious when you’re not at home. Instead of eating your sad little bowl of ramen, channel your inner Rachael Ray and cook up something special for yourself. Cooking may seem scary at first, but once you make one dish everything is cake from there (pun intended).
5. Plan a Surprise Trip Home
If you can’t wait to go home until Thanksgiving, then don’t! Make a road trip out of it and grab one of your classmates whose home is in the same direction. Plenty of students carpool to save gas when driving back home. Even though you didn’t stay in college all the way until Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that you’re not cut out for it. Living on your own is a rude awakening, especially to those who can’t cook or do laundry.
Living on your own does have its drawbacks, but in the end, it’s all about gaining that confidence and independence to make your mark in the world.
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