Personal Counseling > Homsickness > Coping With Homesickness

What can you do to help yourself?

1. Admit that you have it: acknowledge your feelings and accept them. Believe that they will pass. They almost always do. Much of what you know and can rely on is back home. Homesickness is a natural response to this sense of loss.

2. Talk about it with an older sibling or friend who has gone away from home. It takes strength to accept the fact that something is bothering you and to confront it. It is often helpful to share feelings of homesickness. Think about contacting one of the College Counselors. Sharing these feelings may take you over the worst period.

3. Bring familiar items from home to your new location. Photos, plants, even stuffed animals to help to give one a sense of continuity and ease the shock of a new environment.

4. Familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. Walk around. You will feel more in control if you know where buildings, classes, and services are. Become familiar with the Student Center and the various activities available on campus. Take advantage of the Recreation Center (call 375-7482 or 7521 for more information)..

5. Invite people along on your explorations. Making friends is a big step to alleviating homesickness.

6. Keep in touch with the people back home, but put a limit on telephoning. Write them reports of your activities and new experiences. Let them know you'd like to hear from them, too.

7. Plan a date to go home and make arrangements. This often helps curtail impulsive returns and keeps you focused on your goals in staying. Some students find it helps to ease the transition; others find the constant readjustment makes them feel worse. However, think carefully about whether or not to go home on weekends - decide whether the best policy for you is to have frequent contact with home (because contact makes you feel better), or little contact (because contact makes you feel worse).

8. Examine your expectations. We'd all like to be popular, well dressed, well organized, and well adjusted. Well, we're not. Setting a goal of perfection is the most predictable way of creating trouble for yourself. Laugh at your mistakes. This is a new environment and you're learning.

9. Seek new opportunities. As scary as it is to see all those people, all those classes, all those buildings, all those choices, they will provide opportunities to meet people who like what you like. Take classes that you're interested in and get involved in your favorite activity, or try new ones.

10. Do something. Don't wait for it to go away by itself. Buried problems often emerge later disguised as headaches, fatigue, illness, or lack of motivation. Make a real effort to join societies/activities and to make at least one or two friends. This might feel very difficult, but the more you feel part of campus life, the less homesick you will feel. If nothing else, volunteer to help with something - there are plenty of groups looking for volunteers. Contact the Student Activities Board for more information about campus activities (375-7481).

11. Try to establish a routine as soon as possible. The fuller your days are, the less time you will have to feel homesick or lonely.

Other campus resources: Multi-Cultural Center - 375-7749; Dean of Students - 375-7213; Student Health - 375-7470; STRIDE - 375-7500.

Return to Homesickness Page

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Ron Vick, MA, LPC
Counselor / Academic Advisor
Int'l Student Advisor