Hi,
I’m in my first semester and already 6 weeks here at college. I live on campus in a single room.
I have lots of acquaintances here but not friends…just people I see occasionally and sometimes cook with them etc…
I also feel lonely during saturdays sometimes. Some weekends I find people to do stuff with, sometimes not and then I’m really really lonely.
I never felt alone, I always had my high school friends (and they were real friends, not only acquaintances) and of course my family.
Now I’m in Canada, thousands of km away from my friends/family in Germany (I’m an International Student).
i miss my hometown so much and honestly also my mother (a lot…).
I wish my high school friends could be here, but of course that’s not the case.
After my first week, I thought it would get better but it didn’t.
Is it still possible to make friends? Or does it happen right at the beginning and I missed it? Is it still possible next semester? What should I do?
I’m feeling really lonely?
You should try to join some clubs. See if your college has any sort of program for international students- that way you can meet people who may have similar feelings. You may want to go to the counseling office on campus just to talk to someone. These professionals usually deal with a lot of students who are homesick or lonely so they might have ideas. You could also talk to your RA to see if there are floor events for people to meet each other and hang out or maybe they will have some advice.
There are a lot of other people on this forum asking the same question right now. Don’t worry if you don’t have a big group of friends yet. As @readingclaygirl said, try joining a club or looking into the offerings for international students. My college has small culture clubs for each country where a student is from.
It is never “too late” to make friends. There is no deadline. But you might have to put yourself out there a little bit. Ask if you can sit next to people in the dining hall, look to see if dorm room doors are open at your dorm and either go into someone else’s open room or keep your own door open if you are not studying. Read in a public place or go to the game room and ask someone to teach you pool or ping-pong. Go to the gym to work out or try a recreational sport. All of these are fun and social.
As for the homesickness, it is definitely a big adjustment moving from home to “somewhere else”, especially when home is so far away. Do both you and your parents have FaceTime or Skype available? If you do, make the effort to get in touch, just to try it. You might find it makes you more homesick sometimes, but most of the time if you are feeling down it should help you out. Just make sure you calculate time zones correctly.
Good luck. I hope you feel better soon.