<p>So I'm a freshman at my University, I've been here for about 6 weeks and my homesickness is not going away. I haven't been home yet, but I plan to for about 4 days next weekend. I'm so excited to go home, but I feel as though I'm not going to want to come back. Also, how often is too often to come home? I miss my dog and my family and anything familiar and would like to see them more often than I have. Would that make it worse? I just don't know what to do, I have a job that keeps me very busy when mixed with my classes. I don't have a whole lot of friends but I have a few, but it seems like nothing is getting better. I just keep making routine plans to go</p>
<p>To add to it, I'm not sure if I can even attend this school next year due to my lack of funds so I am constantly thinking about the future and what it going to happen. Am I being too anxious? </p>
<p>Have you been to the counseling center at your school? My freshman daughter was feeling very overwhelmed and homesick for the first couple of weeks at her school. She visited the counseling center at her school and found it very helpful - it is their job to support students and help them when they are experiencing issues. Although intellectually my daughter felt she would settle in eventually, she is on the introverted side and was experiencing a lot of anxiety about her classes and making friends. The counselors were great. Anxiety can lead to depression if you don’t address it - I hope you will reach out for help!</p>
<p>If you are close enough to go home and visit your family more often (and travel costs are not a financial burden), I don’t think it would necessarily be a bad thing to do so, but it would not be good to go home every weekend - that would certainly not help you settle in at your school and establish relationships and develop a social life and support structure there. I lived less than an hour away from my family when I was in college and usually went home once a month-I needed to have some peace and quiet once in a while.</p>
<p>Consider joining a club that interests you or sign up for a community service activity -perhaps with the friends you have found already-and you instantly have something in common with other students and can expand your social circle.</p>
<p>Although many students seem to settle in to the college life easily, many do not. You are definitely not alone in feeling anxious. Please reach out to your counseling center - they can help!</p>
<p>My older son was extremely homesick as a freshman. It got a little better over the course of the school year, but didn’t really lift until that summer, when he had an internship at school, and was able to experience the place without the academic stress (he’d overloaded himself the first semester) and in nicer weather.</p>
<p>Conversely, my younger son doesn’t seem to be at all homesick (he’s a freshman at the same school). He doesn’t see his older brother often, but he seems to have settled in pretty well.</p>
<p>UNHFreshie, this is totally normal. You may think that everybody around you is doing great and you are the only one who is off kilter, but this is not the case. Many (dare I say, most?) of the other freshman are not feeling grounded right now. It takes time to find people that you really connect with, more than 6 weeks.</p>
<p>That said, you can help the situation by talking to your RA, the counseling office and calling your parents. It helps to talk to people who have been in your shoes.</p>
<p>You have a full plate, between working and a full course load. Eat well, sleep 8 hours and keep reaching out to others. Say hi first, learn people’s names and don’t worry about next year. Just work on today and tomorrow. Lots of people had a rough couple of months in freshman year until they really felt settled it. So cut yourself some slack and reassess how you feel at Thanksgiving break. </p>
<p>Are you an only child? I was not, so I was really happy to get out of the house.</p>
<p>Yes, I missed my dog a lot. </p>
<p>If you are homesick, I see no issue with going home each weekend if you are close by. If you can’t take public transportation to get home, that might be a problem. But if you do go home every weekend, you need to make sure you plan to do your homework.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can buddy up with someone else from your hometown/area and cut the travel cost. As for the financial stress, have a sit down with your parents and get them to identify how they plan to pay for the next three years. But for now, hang in there and focus on your coursework so you don’t have additional stresses due to low grades. It’ll be okay. College is a huge change and from my perspective, it takes at least 6 months to really feel at home after a big move at any time in your life. </p>