Homesick? Actually, that can be a good thing

If going off to college means you’ll be away from home for the first time for more than a sleepover, you might be worried you’ll be homesick. Feeling homesick is nothing to be ashamed of—it’s not something that affects only younger kids! After all, it’s pretty natural to miss home if that’s all you’ve ever known. Believe it or not, pretty soon you’ll get used to the whole being away at college thing, and that homesickness will dissipate. In the meantime, though, there are some ways to lessen that homesick feeling and, strange as it may sound, to appreciate it.

Your very first few days at college probably won’t have you going to any classes at all. Most schools have a period of a few days where you’ll live in your dorm and hangout on campus before classes start. This gives you the chance to get your textbooks for classes and to start getting acclimated to your campus. Yet in those first few days, homesick feelings will be at their peak. To this, unfortunately you’ll just have to tough it out for a few days. Calls to mom and dad can lessen homesick feelings, and Skype chats will let you feel like they’re your new roommates … if that’s what you want.

Once classes finally begin, the pace of college life really picks up. Perhaps it’s not the most welcome replacement feeling, but you might be at first overwhelmed with all the reading you’ll be assigned and with penciling in tests and finals down the road. The good news is that all this activity will take your mind off of missing your friends and family back home. You’ll be so caught up in starting off college strong that you won’t find yourself as distracted by homesickness. Plus, staying on top of your school work will require some real brain power! Literally, your brain will be too occupied with learning new subjects and materials. By the end of the day, you’ll be more tired than homesick.

At the start of your college career, there will also be plenty of students groups and organizations that will be all around campus hoping to recruit new members. Getting involved won’t be a bad idea by any means. You’ll definitely make new friends, and you’ll have even more to take your mind off of feeling homesick. Homesick feelings can really sink in if you haven’t made many friends yet and you find yourself alone in your dorm room a lot. Joining a group or organization doesn’t let this homesick-conducive situation occur!

Some homesickness can actually be a good thing. Here’s why: first off, missing home means you have something to miss! As much as it might be a relief to be away from your family, missing them means you care about them and that they care about you. While we don’t want to get overly sentimental, it can be comforting to know that. If you’re far away from home and will have the opportunity to go back home only between semesters, you’ll have all the more to look forward to when you can finally return home. If you miss home, it’ll make the trip back that much better. You’ll also have something to look forward to all semester!

Some homesickness will be only natural. It’ll be tough at first, but the routine and pace of college life quickly lessen homesick feelings. You would have had to leave home at some point, so at least by going away to college you’ll know you’ll capable of making it on your own. That’s really an accomplishment if you think about it; this way you know you won’t be living with your parents your whole life!