It is felt in a myriad of ways and various times. There are some things that set it off and others that seem to abate it. It may fade with time on its own, or it may only strengthen as you connect more calls to home or FaceTime your cat.

It's homesickness, and while it may be only just barely the post-syllabus week, upperclassmen and underclassmen alike are aware and prone to falling into its grasp. Even for those students that may be already acclimated to the subzero chill that is Purdue in January/February, homesickness may only fall under the much larger umbrella that is seasonal depression or the "winter blues."

There are some ways to avoid it in an article covered by Bridget Hauck in RealSimple, but the fact remains whether students feel homesick right as they stepped off the terminal or not until that first phone call to their mom there are a significant number of students (69% of freshmen) who suffer from feelings of homesickness.

This article is here to merely make fellow Boilermakers aware of the storm before it comes, and to remind the students who endure the effects of homesickness in the thick of winter even after the three week, homework-free vacation that they are not suffering from a weakness in character (spring break is in eight weeks, yo, that's extremely depressing).

This is the advanced reminder for students to give themselves the time they need to handle, if not recover, the sadness that comes prepacked with chilly, sunless winter. This is the permission I grant to those students who may need to watch an extra episode of their favorite show, go out or stay in one more night, or go to bed early to circumnavigate their homesickness.

Above all, the human body in college is pushed to all sorts of extremes from drinking to drama and everything in-between that packs the days and weeks into a cyclone of stress and raises blood pressure. When the world outside of your head seems to be building in pressure, don't let the space between your ears rot into a mire of self-doubt and depression. Students should call home every night if that's what they know will help them.

Help yourself do amazing things by investing in what reminds you of why you're here and why you're awesome.