Homesick

I’m just starting my third quarter a UCSC and I’m still feeling very homesick. I got back from spring break on Sunday and have been crying and calling my mom everyday since being back. I don’t know why I’m still feeling like this, at this point in the year I should be much better adjusted. In addition home is only an hour and a half from my school and I go home at least once a month. Did I pick the wrong school or should I have stayed at home and gone to community college for a couple years?

What you are feeling is normal. Accept it rather than fighting it. You feel homesick because home is a safe place where you feel loved. Homesickness doesn’t just go away and never come back, it is something that you feel more or less at all different points of your life. It is also likely due to the fact that adjusting to being on your own and doing all that is involved with being an adult is hard as well as the newness of college has worn off and the hard work reality is ever present is known to you now. Text and chat with your parents every day if needed. Enjoy the knowledge that you are a loved child with a loving family while knowing that you can’t go back. That won’t make you happy either. You can do this. Separating from home and parents is a process not a discrete event. Know that what you are doing, getting a post secondary education is also a wonderful gift.

It’s normal. Accept it and embrace it. You love your family and it’s okay. My Spring break was in March and I cried the entire 3 hour drive back to school. Honestly, I’m crying right now as I type this response because I miss home and family. Hang in there. It’s okay, and you’re okay.