How to Deal With Homesickness at University

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week marks the first week of freshers for many across the UK. For many first-time freshers this is an exciting time in your life, your first taste of independence and living away from home. Although this is a very exciting thought it can also cause some anxiety.
I believe that everybody experiences homesickness at some point during his or her first year of University. For some, homesickness can last longer than freshers week. I like 50-70% of UK students suffered from homesickness at the beginning of my University experience, so today I have decided to share with you some tips that helped me overcome my homesickness at University.

The symptoms of homesickness

As well as emotional symptoms like sadness, anxiousness and in some cases depression, homesickness can cause physical symptoms such as tiredness, lack of apatite, lack of concentration, dizziness and headaches.

 Stay in touch with your family and friends 

Keep in touch with your family via phone calls and Skype - this will make the distance feel less. Also social media is a great way to keep in touch with your childhood friends. Create a group chat to share your University experiences with each other.

Arrange for friends and family to come and visit you

Instead of escaping University and the feeling of homesickness, invite friends and family to come and visit you so you can explore your new surroundings together. Organising visits ahead of time so I had a date to look forward to really helped me when I was experiencing homesickness. 

Make your room feel homely

Bringing some home comforts to University will help your room feel more like home. Student accommodation is notorious for being... well basic, so fill your room with photos fairy lights and fun bedding.

But don’t spend all your time in your room

 Although homesickness can make you feel anxious and lethargic, don’t spend all your time in your room. Head out to the communal areas and bond with your flatmates - this will take your mind off your homesickness and make each day pass quicker rather than drag when you're alone in your room.

Experience University as much as you can

 Although you may want to hide away, make sure you fully experience University. Homesickness is only temporary so spend as much time carrying on with your daily life. Spend your days off exploring your new surroundings and making memories that will last forever.  

Finally, don’t give up

Although it may seem like the best option to leave University and choose a different route, (for some it is but don’t make any decisions in the first month or two) but like I’ve stressed in this post homesickness is temporary so don’t make any decision you may later regret.

For me homesickness feels like a lifetime away - it’s been three years since I left home for the first time to head to University. I have now graduated and am living back at home, and trust me I am so jealous of everybody heading to University this month. As I think back at my time at University, the fist few weeks of homesickness does not come to mind, the good times I experienced have overpowered the anxious times. Writing this post I had to think very hard about how I felt as my mind almost forgot about my short time dealing with homesickness.

I hope this post helped with anyone dealing with homesickness.

See you Sunday,

S  xo

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Keeping Your Long-Distance Friendships

University is the best place for making lifelong friendships, so after spending 3 years together life can seem pretty weird and a little tough when you and your uni mates move back home... to different parts of the country (or even the world!)

Today's post will be a few of our tips on how not to lose contact with your uni pals and be able to maintain 'long-distance friendships'.

1. The Power of Social Media: Set up a Group Message

With the advances in social media over the years, staying in touch with long-distance friends has been made much easier. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram we can keep up to date with our friends' lives without even seeing them. Whether it's via text or Whatsapp, a group chat is the best way to keep up-to-date with everyone's news at once - it'll almost feel like you're all just having a chat in the same room. Just with more emojis. Group chats also create a space where you can all stay in touch, get advice and give opinions about the TV shows you love (Ahem, PLL! WHO IS A.D?!) Our group also love Snapchat, sending each other 10 second videos of our day is a great way to show each other how we are spending our time at home. 

2. Take trips to Everyone's Hometowns

Birthdays and celebrations are the perfect opportunity to arrange to meet up with your long-distance friends. If you don't already, plan to have your friends over during your birthday week (yes, a whole week is perfectly acceptable!), this will not only be a nice way to celebrate your birthday but will also be a great opportunity to catch up and spend some quality time together in a new place and have a tour of everyone's home towns!

3. Try Meeting in the Middle

Social media can be great and is an amazing resource for us to stay in touch, but nothing can compare to meeting up face-to-face. Living far away from your friends can make it difficult to meet up and with everyone doing their own thing you can go months without even arranging the next meet up!  This is why we always like to have a date in mind as to when to meet up next. Whether it's day trips or a weekend away, dedicating time in your diary to meet up will mean you won't have to go more than a few months without seeing each other. Plus, meeting somewhere roughly in the middle of where you all live can mean a day out in a new place with you all splitting the travel difference and cost.

4. Send "Snail Mail"

Cards and letters are a really cute and thoughtful means of communication. Especially if it's someone's birthday or if you haven't seen them in a while! It shows that you're thinking of them and have taken the time to do something for you. Plus, it's always nice to get something through the letterbox that isn't from the bank!

Image from Pinterest

We hope this post has given you ideas into ways to keep in touch with your long-distance friends!
See you Tuesday,

S & K  xo 

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