Due to the way our quarter system is laid out, you’re immediately thrust into the world of studying and preparing for finals when you come back from Thanksgiving break. This transition can definitely lead to missing home. Even if you aren’t coming back to a time as stressful as the end of the quarter, it is perfectly normal to miss home after not visiting for a while. Here are some ways to help that homesick feeling be a little less prevalent in your life.
- Spend Time With Friends
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It’s important to lean on your friends at school when you’re missing home. Not feeling supported or surrounded by familiar faces only exacerbates homesickness, and it’s not beneficial for anyone in the long run. Remember that there really isn’t a lot of time until you go back home. On top of that, there is a chance that once you go home, you might find yourself aching to come back to college. So, the most important thing is to take advantage of every moment you have with the new set of people or experiences you have surrounded yourself with.
Canva - Make Your Dorm more home-Y
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It’s completely normal to be homesick for the room you’ve slept in for years or just your own, comfortable space. By getting decorations, scents or rugs and blankets for your dorm or apartment, you could transform the space seem a little less foreign to you. It might make the place you live in feel more like it’s your own and not somewhere far away from everything you are familiar with. The environment you surround yourself with does not have to be as big of an adjustment as you may think!
Anna Schultz / Her Campus - Don’t Compare Yourself To Others
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Your college experience does not have to be everything you hear about. Most of the time, people leave out the times where they were struggling when they tell college stories. No matter how happy or put-together someone looks on the outside, you never know how they are really feeling, so there is no point wondering if you are the only person who is homesick.
- Stay in Touch With Back Home
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Cutting out your family or friends from back home or purposefully talking to them less unnecessarily reminds you of your homesickness. This method does nothing to help combat your emotions. However, it also doesn’t mean calling them constantly and telling them you miss them. Instead, it means allowing yourself to acknowledge your feelings. You do not need to punish yourself or will yourself to not be missing home; you just have to know that your life now consists of something beyond home that you have to make yours.
Homesickness after coming back from break is a real issue, but it is more common than you may think. Just give yourself the time and space to move through your emotions, and you will be just fine.