Home | Forward | More Advice | Subscribe (Free) November 20, 2008
With Fran Northcutt, Honors Adviser, Hunter College of the City University of New York
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Homesick?
HEAD Start
You know the campus shuttle driver's name is Willie. You know where to get the best cappuccino in town. You know some people. You've brought up your English grade from a C+ to an A-, and you finally figured out how to actually find books in the library. On the outside, it looks like you've adjusted perfectly to college. So why are you feeling homesick again?

Potential Psych majors - and anyone else who's been bitten by the homesickness bug - this one's for you. Did you know that homesickness typically gets worse right about now, around Thanksgiving break? Good news is, plenty of your classmates are going through the same thing, and chances are you'll all feel better soon... just in time for finals!

HEAD Lines
Speed up your return to contentment with these easy steps:
  • Get yourself into a routine, and stay busy so there's less time to get caught up in your feelings of homesickness.

  • Remind yourself that these feelings are normal, and that it's okay to take some time to overcome them.

  • Continue to be open to meeting new people.

  • Decide how much contact with your loved ones back home is helpful.

  • Share your feelings with someone else - it's good to get some of your emotions off your chest, and you may even find that others feel the same way.
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From Other HEADS
LEAVING FAMILY IS A BIG ADJUSTMENT. I got lonely my first year and my parents were pretty strict about keeping me at school until I got over it. It was very hard but I grew from it. When I joined the football team, they came up for games, which was great. But the way I fought it mostly was by keeping busy; that's the best way.

-- RYAN SMITH
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, JUNIOR


THE FIRST FEW MONTHS WERE EASIER than I thought they would be. But everyone I knew hit a patch right before they went home, after they'd been here for a couple of months. It was easy to come here, but after a couple of months you start to miss the security of home. Especially, when the tests start.

-- D.F.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, SENIOR



Web Resources
Slow Saturday night? Here's how you can have some real fun. Find where you are on the "W-Curve" model of college adjustment: www.lc.iastate.edu/appendixa.pdf

Reference:
Stover, C. (2007). Preventing Homesickness in College Freshmen. Student Affairs Leader. March.


HoH Tip
If your homesickness stays with you even after you try everything you can think of to overcome it, it's time to ask for some help. Stop by or call your college's Counseling Center for an appointment. These folks specialize in college student issues, so you can be sure they've helped hundreds of homesick freshmen.


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