For most, it’s already a week or two into the new semester, and no doubt home still runs through your thoughts every once in a while. It probably brings on those pesky feelings of homesickness -- it affects the best of us, no matter what stretch of life you’re in.
Whether you’re returning to college far from home, just starting out on your own, attending college close to home or starting your own new home, homesickness is you missing the familiar -- a person, a place, a time in your life.
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It’s loneliness, anxiety, feeling out of place -- because you are out of place. You aren’t home, where you know you belong. You look back and you would much rather be with them, be in that place, be in that time. They say home is where the heart is, and if your heart isn’t with you, you tend to feel a little sick.
How, then, do you get past it? The biggest thing is time, unfortunately. It won’t just disappear. You have to get back into the swing of things -- or if it's a first for you, create your swing of things. It may take a few days for life to pick up again, but once it does, you’ll feel more at home and much less out of place. Humans are creatures of habit, and routines can be an important part of feeling at home, especially in a strange place.
Because we can't always be busy, there will be times when you have nothing to do but sit and miss home. But honestly, we are a lot like two year olds -- the key to calming a 2-year-old is distractions. Yes, cry it out a bit, but don’t cry forever. If you associate your new place with sadness, it'll never feel like home.
So, sit down and do something comforting to you. It may be something that reminds you of home, it may not -- it depends on if reminders of home make your homesickness worse or if it comforts you. Do something familiar. Rewatch a favorite show or movie, play a video game, read a favorite book, listen to a favorite song. Color, take a walk, take a bubble bath. Whatever it is that will calm you.
Trust me. You’ll feel better -- just don’t make any rash decisions while you’re missing home, like quitting college or moving back. You are where you are for a reason, and whether or not you can find a home in your new place in life, home will always be there waiting for you.
