Most of us can agree St. Lawrence is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We’re surrounded by the North Country, miles of Amish farm fields, the beautiful Adirondacks, several remote neighborhoods, and a limited number of places to go out to eat. And though the North Country is beautiful, sometimes it can get a little bit lonely and make you miss home, especially for those students who have never really been away from home for long periods of time. Here are a few tips if you start to feel homesick at any point throughout the semester:
Call Your Parents – Your parents love getting phone calls from you. They miss you, maybe even more than you miss them sometimes, and they want to hear from you. Just simply hearing their voices can get rid of your homesickness. Hearing from loved ones always brings a sense of comfort wherever you are.
Watch A Favorite Movie – You’ll never regret staying in and having a much-needed movie night, whether it be with a few friends, or by yourself. Curl up in bed or on a couch with your favorite snacks, and watch that funny movie you haven’t seen in awhile. It will definitely make you laugh!
Set Up A Group Skype with Friends From Home – Being hundreds of miles (or only a few if you are from the NoCo) away can make it hard to keep in touch with friends from home. If you’re feeling particularly homesick one day, reach out to some of those friends from home and set up a group skype session. Catching up with friends you aren’t able to see everyday is always an instant mood-booster. Hearing about their lives at college, and getting to talk about your own can get help chase away that homesickness.
Keep Yourself Busy – Being homesick sometimes makes you want to isolate yourself, and while a movie night is good once in awhile, one of the best cures for homesickness is distracting yourself. Get a group of friends and go do something fun with them; go to dinner together, bake, go for a walk or a hike. Spending quality time with friends will make you appreciate all of the great times you have, and will continue to have, at SLU.
Hang Up A Few Pictures in Your Dorm Room – Go to Walmart (or any drug store) and print a few pictures of you and friends or family from home. You can use their photo printers to easily print photos from your phone, from Facebook, or Instagram, for very cheap. Having a few fun photos from the summer, or from high school, hanging around your room is a nice reminder of home.
Write A Postcard – It sounds old-fashioned, but writing a real letter, or sending a postcard, can be really fun. The bookstore has some pretty postcards of campus, so you can go pick out a few and send them to family or friends. Besides, who does’nt like getting mail? Write a short note to a friend to say hi, and who knows…maybe they’ll write one back!
Make the most of where you are – Enjoy and appreciate all the wonderful things that SLU has to offer. What better way to distract yourself from feeling homesick than to immerse yourself in life at SLU. Before you know it, four amazing years will be behind you and you’ll be missing SLU more than anything!!
(Photos: Giphy, Slope Media, FanPop, Utah Valley 360, St Law U, BBC)