After being in quarantine for five long months, I was beyond ready to be back in Blacksburg surrounded by my friends and peers in the town we all know and love. The thought of finally being able to get out and do things again was exhilarating. I was looking forward to so many new experiences, especially moving off-campus into my apartment. As the excitement started to wear off and the normality set in, unfortunately so did my homesickness. I started to feel that perhaps I had taken quarantining with my family for granted. Five whole months in quarantine was more time than I’d ever spent around my family since I first went off to college. During quarantine, my family and I created a lot of new experiences.
My dad and I began walking two miles after dinner almost every evening. I learned so much about my dad through our nightly walks and I felt us growing a lot closer. I finally had free time to spend playing with Barbies, playing outside with chalk, and playing games all with my niece. My mom and I binge-watched a lot of great shows and caught up on a few series, which is something we love to do together but never really had the time. Whenever I got bored at my house, I would spend a few hours at my sister’s house hanging out with her and my niece. One thing that defines my relationship with my sister is our shared love for horror movies. With all the local movie theaters closed, my sister and I started having scary movie nights at her house. Popcorn, candy, and a movie we’d been dying to see had us bonding for hours. I was in a comfortable routine with my family, despite them occasionally getting on my nerves, at a time when life felt super uncomfortable and confusing. All the time I had spent with my family made coming back to school much more difficult than I had anticipated.
My parents, like the true Hokie alums they are, usually attend one or two football games along with my sisters and my niece. Those football games, coupled with a trip home for fall break, usually cure my homesickness for the semester. This semester has been a little different though. In order to abide by public health guidelines, my family decided it was not safe for them to visit this semester. Spectators aren’t currently allowed at VT football games, and that’s a huge part of what we do when they come to visit. Being separated from my family has definitely been hard for me at times. While I’m facing new challenges and experiences here at school, so is my family. From my niece losing her two front teeth to my sister applying for grad schools, I am getting major FOMO by not being home to experience those things with them. It can definitely be frustrating and upsetting, but I try to remind myself that everyone is safe and healthier this way and that better days are ahead.
Given the current circumstances of our ever virtual reality, that means communicating virtually with my family too. One way I stay connected to my other sister is through TikTok. For the longest time, I refused to download TikTok because I didn’t want any app to replace my love for Vine. However, during quarantine, I finally broke down and downloaded it and now I’m so glad I did. My sister and I send TikToks to each other at least ten times a day. Whether they are recipes we want to try, crafts we want to make, things we want to buy, or languages we want to learn, we always find something to send. Getting a TikTok from her makes my day and reminds me that she’s thinking of me. It also makes me super excited to see her again and keeps me looking forward to trying some of the things we’ve seen on the app together.
Ever since my niece was born, we’ve been really close. I was pretty young when she was born and that created an unbreakable bond between us. She treats me like her older sister and I’ve always looked at her as my younger sister. We definitely act (and bicker) like siblings too. She’s a big reason why I sometimes feel so homesick. I was always there during the first years of her life and now it’s really difficult for me not to be. Instead, we basically Snapchat every single day. She knows how to take videos and pictures, use filters, send bitmojis, and find my location on the map, all while using my sister’s phone. It’s been our main form of communication so much that I had to set a reminder on my phone to Snapchat her before she goes to sleep. A few days ago, we spent an hour and a half talking via a Snapchat video call. I really miss her and it’s both adorable yet hilarious to see a six-year-old using Snapchat so efficiently.
Although communicating via Snapchat and TikTok is nothing too out of the ordinary, they’re a part of the little things that have kept me going so far this semester. Sweet surprise gifts from my mom, mail from my grandma, and words of encouragement from my aunt have also kept me optimistic and counting down the days until I can see my family again. Initially, after moving in, I felt a little embarrassed to be a junior in college and feeling so homesick. What I’ve come to realize is: it’s totally normal to feel more homesick than usual, especially this semester. There is still so much uncertainty about the virus, and as we just experienced with Spring Break, things are ever-changing. If being separated from your family or support system feels really difficult, just remember you are not alone. Things will eventually get back to normal and all of this will have been worth it to keep the people we love safe.