Defeat Homesickness Whilst at Uni

When preparing to come to university, one thing I never considered was the draining homesickness that I would experience. But everyone does suffer from it in one form or another. With an outgoing, older brother who flourished in the university environment, I expected nothing but excitement and joy in my first year. Unfortunately, I did […]

Kelly Corcoran
22nd October 2018
Image: Asdrubal luna

When preparing to come to university, one thing I never considered was the draining homesickness that I would experience. But everyone does suffer from it in one form or another.

With an outgoing, older brother who flourished in the university environment, I expected nothing but excitement and joy in my first year. Unfortunately, I did not match his consistent buoyancy at university, and found myself missing home much more than I anticipated. However, one year on, I find myself much better equipped with dealing with this nostalgic bug and am therefore sharing with you my best tested tips and tricks for coping with homesickness.

Firstly, surround yourself with home comforts:

One thing I missed the most when moving away from home were the small comforts that I had grown accustomed to. While you can’t bring your mum with you to give you a hug when you’ve had a bad day, you can bring your favourite mug or your favourite bed throw. Little things like this helped to remind me that while home at times felt quite literally hundreds of miles away, it isn’t that far in the grand scheme of things, and having small things such as my favourite mug helped to bring back that little bit of that familiarity.

Get out of the flat:

This is probably one of the most important tips. When feeling homesick it can be very tempting to stay in bed and ponder on how much you want to go home. However, this is probably the worst thing you can do. Trust me I’ve been there. Get up and get going. Newcastle is a great city with an abundance of things to do so make the most of it now. Whether it’s going for a walk along the quayside or getting food with your friends, it is so important to get yourself moving when you’re starting to feel that longing for home. Trust me, this helps.

Don’t go on social media:

This seems like a weird one, but when that wave of homesickness hits, try and avoid scrolling through Instagram and snapchat stories for a bit, even if it’s only for half an hour. When scrolling through your feed it can be so easy to forget that everybody is presenting the best version of themselves. When you see all your friends’ posts and stories showing how much fun they’re having, it isn’t long until you start to feel silly for feeling so down. Remember, homesickness is normal and comparing yourself to your friends isn’t going to help you feel any better, so close that app.

Finally, remember that your time at university is short:

When people say that it goes quickly, they really aren’t kidding so try to keep things in perspective and remain positive. You aren’t here for long so try the make the most of it. Go and explore the city and value the time that you are here, because before you know it you’ll be home again counting down the days until you go back…if you don’t believe me, you’ll soon see.

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