Going away to school involves more than days of meticulous packing and hundreds of “notes to self” left around the house for weeks prior to the big move. There are emotional and mental adjustments that come with the physical changes of moving away to school.
I couldn’t have been more excited to go to university and get the experience of living in a dorm with new people who would become my best friends for life- an expectation inspired from watching too many fictional movies of course. It wasn’t until the leaves started changing colour in my first year that I felt a wave of home sickness. I have never considered myself to be a homebody, however, I began to realize that there were certain triggers that would que the “I miss my mom” feels.
I am now going into my fourth year, and having lived away from home each year of university I have been able to see patterns in my homesickness flare ups. The normal triggering factors that I know many of my friends have also realized to provoke them are: the change of seasons, being sick and being at school while certain events are taking place at home. I’m not exactly sure what it is about the changing of seasons, but as soon as the leaves change their colour, and as soon as the first drop of snow hits I start to miss home. Now to be clear, my cases of homesickness have been mild, typically involving some pouting and whiney phone calls to my parents while they’re at work. Nonetheless, missing home is hard, and I think it’s fair to assume that everyone experiences it at some point as they move away from home. There are few things worse than feeling that knot in your stomach reminding you that the cozy and comfortable home of yours is far far away. But that knot unties itself, and I’ve found that calling home always helps, as well as having items from home with you while your away.
Home will always be home, and it will always welcome you back. So to the first years reading this, keep pushing through a little longer if you’re feeling homesick, because those feelings can pass. Try to settle yourself in and make university your new home away from home. Also remember that you can always call home because I’m sure your loved ones are missing you too.