Homesickness
Moving away from home to study can cause feelings of homesickness which can make study seem difficult or impossible at times. Research suggests that nearly 70% of university students feel homesick at some time or another. Sometimes we are not aware of how much we rely on our support networks until we move away from them.
People who are most vulnerable are international students and members of minority groups. You might belong to a minority group because of your religious convictions, your sexual orientation, a disability or even because you are the only person from your school or social group on campus. Bringing other family members with you can make matters worse if you feel that you have to ‘solve’ their homesickness problems as well as your own.
Homesickness can become so bad that you think you may have to drop out.
Talk it over first
There is an on-line resource which contains many suggestions to help you survive homesickness. A number of support staff can also help you work your way through these problems. Just talking about it is often a very effective way of dealing with feelings of homesickness but support staff also may be able to help you to form new support networks so that you can continue with your current enrolment or advise you about the best way to change your enrolment.
Some of the people you can talk to:
English Language & International Services
Your Head of Residence or one of the appointed residential leaders in your Residence