There's only 2 more months until the start of the school year! Which is a great lead into our blog topic for the week: Homesickness. Now we know most of you are reading this either thinking that you’re not going to be homesick at all or that you’re going to be incredibly homesick. The reason why we’re writing about homesickness this week is because it can be a major stress factor and the less stress you have on your plate the easier it will be to deal with balancing your school work, social life and a plethora of anything else that can may and will come your way. So without further hesitation….read on!

Picture this: you walk into your residence room (wherever that might be) with your parents, siblings and maybe a few friends. They help you unpack, maybe take you out to lunch and to buy the last few things you forgot - food, hangers, a kettle. Then they hug you, kiss you and high-five you goodbye. Your roommate is most likely doing the same thing; and now you’re on your own—and so are they, maybe for the first time. It’s exciting, and wonderful and potentially a little bit sad, but that’s okay; everyone moving away from home usually feels these things.

Don’t be discouraged by this though, you’ll have an amazing time at university. If you are feeling homesick there are a few things you can do to ease this sadness:

• Acknowledge that you are feeling that way. It’s a completely natural feeling
• Talk to someone about it: your roommate, your friends from home that may be at the same school, or your R.A.
• Keep in touch with friends and family from home, talking to them may help too!
• Put up photos of everyone or everything you miss, the blank walls in your residence room are meant for pictures and posters that will make your room (or part of the room) feel more like home
• If you miss your friends, arrange for them to come visit or vice versa. It’s not only a way to get to see your friends but other campuses as well.
• Remember the biggest thing of all, your home will still be there when you want to go back for a visit

 
 
There are other things you can do to counter feeling homesick. Go to all the orientation events—it’s what they’re there for! Meet people in your program; you might even find you have classes together. Go to the pep rally with your residence; it’s a great way to meet people that you’ll be seeing all the time. Another great way to combat homesickness is to find something you’re passionate about and get involved with it on campus, there are tons of volunteer opportunities, clubs and events to go to—even gym classes—try yoga, aikido or spinning. These are great places to meet people, or bond with a friend from on or off campus.

Now for the question you’ve all been waiting for: how do you know if you are homesick? Signs that you might be homesick differ for everyone. Here are a few:

• Withdrawal from social activities
• Loneliness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Lack of motivation in classes - considering quitting school to return home
• You get choked up when thinking of people, pets, or stories from home
• Feeling like you have a lack of control or power over what is happening
• Negative attitude about University because it “will never be as good as home”

 
As we said before you could have all these signs or you could have none. Some of these signs can be indicative of other issues you’re dealing with as well, which brings us back to support! If you feel like you need to talk to someone about being homesick or if you’re concerned it could be something more, never hesitate to seek help. Some places you can go are, The Wellness Centre (2nd floor J.T. Powell Building ext. 53327), Counseling services (3rd floor of the University Centre ext. 53244), The Student Support Network (located in McNally House ext. 55002), Your Program Counsellor (their locations will vary depending on program, so check your program website) or the Multi-Faith Resource Team (located in McNally House ext. 58909).

That’s it for us this week.
 
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at wellness@uoguelph.ca or 519-824-4120 ext. 53327.
 
See you next week with more wellness fun!
 
- The Wellness Summer Team