Stepping past the locked door of homesickness
By Ashleigh Stingley
A common trial for anyone setting off from home for the first time is homesickness. College students are no exception. For most freshmen, the homesickness seems to creep in quickly. While some cases of homesickness are short lived, popping up one day and go away the next, there are other cases that are more extreme. So there has to be ways to just get over that homesickness, right?
Jackie Imsande agreed to give a few tips on how she battled homesickness when she was a Freshman. Imsande’s first tip was to keep in contact. “Don’t wait for them (your family) to contact you; you should contact them,” Imsande said. Keeping in contact with family and friends also lessens parents anxiety if their child is okay. Ismande’s other idea was to keep yourself busy and focused, so time would hopefully fly by until you get to go back home again..
If you can imagine what it is for a normal student who is only probably about 100-200 miles away from campus, imagine how worse it would be for a student that isn’t from this country. Isa Rebel told us how different her homesickness was from a student who lived in the country. “I’m going to college in Iowa, but my home is in Germany. It takes me 2.5 hours just to get to the airport and another 12-13 hours to get home. So a quick trip to visit my family for a weekend is not possible.”
The first month, either at the beginning of her college career or after a break was the most exciting, but after then she started missing home. “But I usually don’t stay homesick for very long because I get so caught up in everything I do. I don’t have time to miss home,” Rebel said. “And my friends know how I feel, they feel the same way, so if I’m not distracted enough I just talk with them and we can help each other. So my tip for you is to stay busy and talk to someone.”
If any of these ideas don’t interest you, there’s always another way to get rid of your homesickness. SWAT’s main mission is to provide interesting activities most of the weekends for students who can’t go home. These events range from Roller Skating to Campus Wide Sardines to the Comedy Series. There’s always new people to meet here and plenty of fun to get your mind off your homesickness. And if you aren’t the big social type yet still talk to a select group of friends, there are still plenty ways in Forest City that want to help fight that homesickness. For example, go pick up a movie at the library and have a movie night with some friends. You’ll be glad you did!
If your homesickness seems to be too big to deal with and makes you depressed, make sure you seek out help right away. The Crisis Prevention Services located on campus are always welcoming with open arms.
While homesickness is something many encounter, just make sure it’s not taking over your life and destroying your future at your college. It takes work to conquer it, but you can do it. I mean, look at all the students still at the college today.