Flying the nest can bring up all sorts of nostalgic feelings about leaving home. Most students can’t wait to leave home and move on to their next adventure. But, as perfectly explained by How I Met Your Mother, the second your parents leave you in that empty room in a flat full of strangers, you may find you experience ‘Graduation Goggles.’ This is when you look back at something once you have left, and these ‘goggles’ make the past and the comfortable seem like a much better option, and you may want to run straight back to it. Homesickness is not a nice feeling and whether or not we admit it to ourselves, we all experience it to a degree. Here are my top five tips on how to deal with missing home.
Surround Yourself with People
Whether it be the other people in your flat, people on your course, or members of a society you joined, being around people can really make you feel more at home. Movie nights with housemates or a night out for cocktails can distract you from thinking about home. Even if it is difficult at first, it can really help to make uni feel like your new home.
everyone is in the same boat so speak to those around you
Join a Society
I am definitely not a sporty person and with Exeter being quite a sports-orientated university, I felt slightly intimidated to join any societies at first. This was soon turned upside down when I found out the range of societies that you can get involved in. If you can throw yourself into something that you love – whether this is a sport, or being involved in the Game of Thrones society – you’ll soon find that you can feel at home in Exeter.
Facetime Your Parents
Although you may think that seeing your home is going to make you feel worse, it will actually feel comforting to see something familiar. Getting upset and admitting you are feeling homesick to your parents (and yourself!) will actually make you feel much better and like a weight has been lifted.
Feeling homesick is an essential part of moving away and it would be pretty strange if you didn’t feel anything at all
Stay Mindful
Mindfulness is such an important method of being aware of your feelings and can be very effective at dealing with homesickness or overwhelming emotions. Keeping in mind that you have got into university to study something you love and staying in the present moment is a very positive and useful way of grounding yourself. It will encourage you to remember all the good things that come with leaving home.
soon enough you’ll accidentally call your uni house ‘home’ to your mum and she will be pretending not to cry.
Enjoy Yourself!
Yes this sounds super cliché, but it is one of the most important ways to deal with missing home. There are so many fun things to distract and motivate you at university. So go on that night out, join that sports team and go on that Tinder date. All these things will help you to adjust to living away from home and soon enough you’ll accidentally call your uni house ‘home’ to your mum and she will be pretending not to cry.
Feeling homesick is an essential part of moving away and it would be pretty strange if you didn’t feel anything at all. Try and remember that everyone is in the same boat so speak to those around you, and make the most of the next three years!
