Everyone told me I would at some point get homesick, but I was never prepared for what being homesick would actually be like. Here are some things that I did my first few weeks of college to get over missing my family and friends, and of course my puppy.
1. Facetime your friends from home.
Everyone says surround your self with good people that make you happy. Yet this is utterly impossible when you were just dropped off in a completely foreign place three days ago. While this won't be happening constantly over the next few months because you will find some of your best friends and the people you connect with most in this weird place, it is OK to start there. No one is going to judge you or criticize you for wanting to talk to your friends from home. Guaranteed they just hung up a call with one of their friends as well.
2. Realize that it's OK to cry.
Maybe not at convocation with your entire grade in my case over 7,000 students LOL. But it is normal to feel upset. While everyone may not burst into hysterics at the picture their mom sent them of their puppy in a sink....again....LOL, everyone at some point has just felt out of it and don't understand how they are supposed to spend the next four years in this crazy place.
3. Know that once classes start, it gets SO MUCH BETTER.
Before classes started, even though on my campus there was so much going on, it was never enough to fully occupy me from the fact that I was in State College, PA and everyone I held so close to my heart wasn't. Once classes started however, I was so overwhelmed with work I barely have time to think about being sad.
4. Don't be ashamed to go home once in a while if you can.
I went home once, halfway through the semester and it was the perfect break. But staying at school and pushing through and building relationships here, I found was the most effective way of getting over this infamous disease they call "homesickness."
5. Talk to your new friends about your old friends and vice versa.
You'll both feel so happy in the moment reminiscing, and the other person gets to know even more about you helping foster the relationship. It's a win-win. Then next time when something funny happens and it reminds you of back home you can tell them who it reminds you of and they'll recognize the name of your best friend and make you feel like your whole world is a little more connected.
