Coping with homesickness

For many students this will be the first time you have experienced living away from home for a sustained period and you may find yourself missing family and friends. This is simply because you are naturally attached to familiar people and places. The problem can be compounded further for international students by the culture shock of discovering a new country.

Homesickness often dissolves away naturally in the first few weeks of term as you invest your attention and energy in the new challenges of your course and social life. The University environment can become familiar pretty quickly, which tends to give a sense of calm and control.

Your homesickness may continue if you are struggling to find your niche, or if there are problems at home that you are worrying about. If you still feel homesick after a few weeks, don't lose confidence that you can adjust to living independently from home.

It's a good idea to put up photos and ring home or even pop home for a visit. You may want your family to visit and see your new base too. Daily phone calls or returning home every weekend, however, may just keep the wound open and deter you from adjusting to university life. Try to reduce phone calls and visits over a few weeks and provide yourself with as many enjoyable distractions as possible.

You may have difficult points, but this is part of the huge transition process that you are in and your mood will lift given a chance. Congratulate yourself for sticking with it! Try to get involved with things that you can talk about when you do ring home, things that your parents, siblings and friends can encourage you in and feel proud of. They probably miss you too and are also going through their own adjustment process.