<p>So I leave in about 6 weeks. I'll be 4.5 hrs away from home. (I went to a CC for my first year of college and lived at home btw.) At first I was SUPER excited. So excited that I already bought some stuff for my dorm, turned in my housing application early, and sometimes watched YouTube videos about dorm shopping/decorating all night haha. But ever since I realized "Wow I'm leaving NEXT MONTH" I've been less excited. I've been feeling nervous. I've even been having second thoughts about going. (Even though no matter what I'm still going to go.) I'm REALLY worried about getting homesick. I'm very close to my family. I have a good relationship with them. And I've never been away from my parents for more than a few weeks. I'm nervous about crying when they go back home after parent/student orientation is over. I don't want people to see and think I'm immature haha. </p>
<p>The best advice I can give is to get involved. Join a club or go to other activities (most colleges have tons of stuff going on at the beginning of the year). If you live in a dorm, invite your roommates to get something to eat at the dining hall/explore the campus/do something fun off campus. RAs generally plan activities (especially for the beginning of the year) and that’s usually a great way to meet people who are in the same situation that you are.</p>
<p>And you can always call home or video chat with your parents. Don’t worry too much about being homesick and just think of all the new things you’ll be able to do.</p>
<p>AEgirl, you won’t be the only student missing her family and experiencing homesickness, so give yourself a break on that one. With great technology today, your family is just a quick phone call away, or Facetime, or Skype, or whatever it is you like to use. Now, one of the problems seen for most college kids these days is that same technology. Calling home too often can cause your homesickness to last longer; you continue to rely on your parents to help solve your problems, etc, instead of handling things on your own. Sure, you need advice sometimes, but try not to call home for every little thing!
Get involved in clubs or activities, reach out to someone else who looks like they might be a bit homesick, and my best advice is to reach out and meet older students who have been at the school longer. Why? Because I don’t think a bunch of homesick new students are particularly helpful to each other. When you can talk to older students, and get their perspective on how great the school is (why would they have returned if it wasn’t, right?), the best activities, chinese food places, etc, it really helps to feel part of the school. So, playing a sport, or singing in a group, etc, notice the students who aren’t new, and introduce yourself. Ask a question or a few, and just be friendly. Set a couple nights a week when you will call home, and do so for your family’s sake. Tell them all the fun things you are doing, and know that breaks to go home come pretty quickly! And, if your school is like my D’s, the year is only 30 weeks, not 40 like k-12 school!
This is a very exciting time, and nervousness is normal. Just plan now on how to handle it so that you don’t give in to it! Oh, and let your mom or family members help you with dorm shopping, etc. That includes them in the planning and fun!</p>
<p>I will just be blunt and say that yes, you will definitely get homesick. There isn’t much to do that you can do to avoid feeling this way, most people do and you will definitely see others start dropping out because they want to be back home or be closer (there were maybe 4 or 5 my first year). </p>
<p>I think the most important thing is to think about how to deal with being homesick instead of trying to prevent yourself from being homesick.</p>
<p>You should just try to be as social as you can so you can make new friends and keep yourself busy when you are not doing schoolwork. Also, remember that you can always use skype or something to communicate with your parents.</p>
<p>One word of caution though, try to make a conscious effort to not communicate with your parents too much. From what I have observed, the students that communicate with their parents every single day of the week are the ones that don’t do very well and sometimes end up leaving. Stay positive about this new experience, the first year away from home is so important because it sets the tone for literally the rest of your life away from your parents.</p>
<p>Yeah, well, that’s how it goes–you can’t stay with the people you love forever. Hopefully, you’ll make new relationships at college and that will help you build another whole set of relationships that will keep you content</p>
<p>Another parent here. Your feelings are totally normal. I would say most people feel this way. Give yourself a few months to settle in. Make an effort to meet people and form bonds the first week. If you will be in on-campus housing, leave your door open when you are moving in, and people will stop by and introduce themselves. Or go introduce yourself to those who have their doors open. And don’t worry about crying when you are saying goodbye to your parents. It is not immature at all; there will be plenty of students and parents crying, some in private and some not. Best of luck! It will be an exciting and great time.</p>
<p>I feel the exact same way! I’ll be 6 to 7 hours from home and I’m really nervous and scared. At the end of this month I’ll be leaving for college for this 7 week freshmen summer program. the day is coming too fast and I know it’ll take some time to get used to the whole being away from your parents thing. I know I’ll be fine, so I’m just trying to spend time with my family and friends as much as I can before I leave! :D</p>
<p>Everyone feels that way, but as long as you get involved, you won’t feel it until the end. I just got done with my first year at university, and I was one of the 5% of students that NEVER went home during the semester. I started missing my parents by 2-weeks-left, but that was probably just because I was excited to be done with college for a bit.</p>
<p>Yeah. You have to make sure you cope with it not by retreating home, but by engrossing yourself in things at school. That’s the mistake I made. I went home on the second weekend. I never recovered socially and ended up transferring to be a commuter (ironically, as a commuter, I am way more involved on-campus than I was as a resident, and spend about the same amount of time on-campus as I did then). So, if I could do it over, I’d have definitely put myself out there more and gotten more involved with things to make it feel more like “home” or at least like a great alternative to it. You have to remember the positives: opportunities and access you don’t have at home. Take advantage of that, and talk to your family/friends whenever you feel you want to.</p>
<p>I’m starting to get a bit more excited now! 40 days left until I leave!</p>
<p>Right now I’m just getting nervous about who my roommate will be. I hope we get along great. I don’t think I could stand rooming with someone I hate or vice versa.</p>