College is supposed to be one of the best times in your life. Apart from all the homework, tests, and finals, college is where you make your life-long friends, meet influential people, and prepare yourself for the career you’ve been dreaming of! But sometimes while we’re busy making new friends, you might miss your friends from high school or your best friends from home, and if your best friends are anything like my best friends; they’ll be there to the end with you! So it’s important to know how to cope when you’re missing those friends.
1. It’s okay to be sad- Let it out.
It’s good to recognize what’s making you upset- whether it’s that you miss your family or friends or you’re not doing the best in your classes. Give yourself a pity day, stay in bed in your pjs all day, binge watch your favorite show on Netflix, and talk to those people you’re missing, let it all out. It’s important not to be sad for too long because that sadness can stick and you’ll never get out of the sad hole you dug for yourself. Give yourself a day then get back out there!
2. Get out and explore!
Instead of doing your work in your dark dorm room, go to a coffee shop or the library, surround yourself with action (but don’t forget to do your work!) Just surrounding yourself with people can make you realize that you’re not alone!
3. Find people that enjoy what you enjoy
It’s important to find some extracurriculars to do while you’re not studying, join a club that you enjoy or is connected to your major somehow to meet the people that enjoy what you like. Or even join a club that you’ve never heard of to step out of your comfort zone and meet some interesting people that you’d never come in contact with if it weren’t for the club, who knows you could meet your new best friend!
4. Set aside time to connect.
For my friends and I we set a time each week that we are all free and we video chat about our classes and boys and such! It really is the highlight of my week when I can see all my friends faces and talk to them as if we were all home. Even hearing their voice can help your homesickness a ton.
5. Familiarize yourself with your surroundings.
One big reason people get homesick is because they’re not familiar with the new place yet. Set aside a day to visit a bunch of new places like the local coffee shop, the library, other academic halls, and parks to get to know what’s around you and soon they won’t seem so unfamiliar to you anymore.
6. You’re not the only one.
Never think that you’re the only one missing home. Odds are when thousands of kids move away from home almost all of them will experience homesickness one time or another. Just talk and get to know people and maybe you’re helping with their homesickness just as much as they’re helping you.