|
| Contact Info |
Wayne State College
Counseling Center
Student Center, Rm. 103
1111 Main St.
Wayne, NE 68787
Phone: 402.375.7321
Fax: 402.375.7058
|
|
|
Personal Counseling >
Homsickness
Many students coming to college, and maybe leaving home
for the first time, feel homesick. Even those who didn't
ever expect to be hit by homesickness can suddenly find
themselves missing the familiarity of home and friends,
and don't know quite how to cope with the resulting emotions.
This is entirely normal and passes, usually in the first
semester, and often within the first few weeks.
It is important to realize that you are not the only one
feeling homesick and that it doesn't in any way mean you
are inadequate. Suddenly, you find that instead of being
a central person in a small unit with plenty of peripheral
activities and friends, you have become an anonymous member
of a community where you know no one. Understandably you
feel shaken and lonely and you long for the secure and the
familiar. Sometimes the emotions are completely overwhelming.
When you recognize the signs of homesickness (see below),
take steps to deal with it before being overwhelmed.
Signs of Homesickness
| |
- Dissatisfaction with social or family relationships.
|
| |
- A tendency to be self-critical.
|
- A tendency to make critical statements of
others
|
- An inability to create or maintain interpersonal
relationships.
|
| |
|
- Disinterest in activities of others.
|
|
- A feeling of emptiness and being very much
alone.
|
- A feeling that your intimate needs are not
being met or, if they are, they seem unsatisfying.
|
- Feeling worthless, helpless, powerless,
unacceptable, self-absorbed.
|
- Feeling separated from other people.
|
- Feeling bored, self-pitying, sad, and sometimes
depressed.
|
- Low self-esteem and the feeling that there
is no one with whom you can communicate openly,
honestly, and intimately.
|
- Feeling nervous and disoriented.
|
- Over-reacting to everyday events that you
would generally take in your stride.
|
— Coping
with Homesickness —
_________________________
Ron Vick, MA, LPC
Counselor / Academic Advisor
Int'l Student Advisor
|
|
|
