College student living is an excellent opportunity to get experience studying away from home. You can meet new people, live independently, and experience young adult life. But it’s also natural to feel homesick, especially when living away from home for the first time. It’s important to recognize when you experience homesickness, so you can take the time to look after yourself and prioritize your mental health.
This article will give you some tools for managing homesickness when studying away from home.
How Can Homesickness Affect Your Mental Health?
Homesickness can increase feelings of anxiety, depression, or low mood. However, this feeling is natural, and you aren’t alone. You might feel like you want to withdraw or isolate yourself from other students in your college living area or feel stronger emotions like anger, nervousness, or helplessness.
Sometimes, homesickness can lead us to make poor decisions. It’s essential to take the time to manage homesickness so that you can make decisions calmly and rationally.
Homesickness might also lead us to experience physical symptoms like nausea, headaches, dizziness, or a lack of appetite. It may also disrupt your sleeping problems, worsening physical and mental health symptoms.
What Can I Do About Homesickness?
If you feel homesick, it’s a natural part of living away from home for the first time. College living is an adjustment period if you’re used to being around family, and it can take a little time to get used to. Remember to look after yourself and be patient with yourself while you’re managing the feeling of homesickness.
Some of the things you can do to manage homesickness include:
Making Plans To Visit Home When You Can
If you’re feeling homesick, getting a date on the calendar to reconnect with your loved ones can make a big difference to your mental health. It can help ease the anxiety of the unknown if you have a fixed date to go home.
Depending on your feelings, you might want to make plans to visit home a few weeks after arriving at your college, rather than immediately. This can help you settle into your new routine before visiting home.
Connect With People In Your New Home
Everyone experiencing college living in a new home is looking to connect with new people. See if there are any social gatherings in the local area or your residence to help you meet new people.
Remember, everyone is new, and many people might be experiencing homesickness, so you don’t need to be worried about what people think. You could ease into social gatherings by attending smaller events with fewer people and building up the people you meet over time.
Call Or Write To People You Care About
Take the time to video call or phone people from home to connect with people who know and love you. You could also text or write emails to stay connected with friends and family. Staying in touch with people is still important. A quick phone call helps you boost your spirits if you are homesick.
Start A New Hobby
College student living often comes with a whole new host of hobbies and activities you can get acclimated to. These can serve as a great way of meeting other new students on campus and getting involved in more frequent social gatherings. You could return to an activity you enjoyed previously or start something completely new.
Set Up A Care Package System
Lots of your friends in college might experience homesickness, too. Set up a care package system to keep in touch with them. You can fill care packages with your friends’ favorite snacks, magazines, or other goodies. Helping other people can boost your mental health when you are experiencing homesickness. If you talk to your family and tell them you are experiencing homesickness, you might also receive care packages from them.
Remember To Get Some Sunlight
When you feel homesick, you are more likely to want to isolate yourself from others and stay inside. But getting outside for regular daylight and exercise can help you get into a routine and get you some vital vitamin D. Regularly spending time outdoors can also boost your mental health and overall mood.
Exercise is essential for caring for yourself and managing your physical and mental health. Setting up a regular routine embeds you into college living and enables you to settle into a new schedule that works for you.
Get To Know Your New Home
A lack of connection to your new place often causes homesickness. Get to know where you live, meet your neighbors, find your local stores, and check out places where you can study. Become familiar with the local area to get that feeling of home in your new college town.
If you can’t get home yourself, invite your family to come and visit you. Being able to show them the local area can give you a sense of confidence and knowledge of your new home. Trying out new restaurants and other fun experiences are other key ways to enjoy yourself in your new city.
Personalize Your Space
Put up items that remind you of home, whether they might be pictures, familiar books, or your favorite rug. Consider surrounding yourself with familiar scents, like perfumes, to help you associate your new college living with your home. College is also a time to try something new, so visit stores and look at new pictures or furniture that could go well with your favorite items.
Final Thoughts
Homesickness is natural and can impact your mental and physical health. Take the time to look after yourself, and remember that other people around you in your college town might be experiencing the same feelings. Connect with your friends and family and set up a visit to home when you can.
Make your new house your home at Sunrise Village. Experience college living and feel at home in our welcoming and friendly apartment spaces.