I'm A Junior In College Who STILL Gets Homesick

Being in college is stressful enough already, but being away from familiarity makes it even more stressful, I'm in the the first semester of my junior year of college, so I'm used to not being home 24/7 and coming home very little. Recently, I've been getting hit HARD with the feeling of missing home more than ever. There's really no explanation for it, but it makes me want to leave college every weekend to be where I know I belong.

The biggest part of my homesickness I believe is because I'm so close to home that I feel guilty not taking advantage of it and going home. I'm not like 10 or 15 minutes away, but I'm close enough to drive home in the morning, spend the day, and drive back at night. On days where I have really nothing to do, I think to myself "I could easily drive home for dinner and spend a little time before coming back." This is a mindset that in my opinion is a little bit unhealthy. I'm away at school to learn how to be on my own and become an independent adult with a career of her own. I shouldn't be wishing the weeks away to be able to go home and escape reality for a couple of days. When the real world hits, I could find myself even farther from home and not be able to escape to my childhood room and come back to my new hometown in the same day. Sometimes, you just really miss the life you had before you had to grow up and do things on your own.

Another reason that I get homesick is one almost everyone can relate with: my dogs. I see pictures of my pets from my sister and my grandma and get extremely sad that I'm not there to experience this new pup's life in my home. Every time I come home, they're super excited to see me, but I still feel like they barely know me because I'm never home. I'm in no way responsible enough to care for a dog on my own while currently in school, but I miss having a little fuzzball to curl up with me at night and keep me safe while I sleep.

There are always people who make fun of others for going home every weekend or almost every weekend. These kind of people make me so angry. Everyone has a different life and lifestyle that could be full of things they can't control that drive them to go home to see their families. Others just maybe get more homesick than others and feel safe and loved in their home own. There are a million different reasons for why people get homesick while away at school. So, if you are starting to miss home and don't know whether to go or not, just do it. Plan a trip to go see your family and friends, it'll help you in the long run.