Dealing with homesickness
Comments from students...
Below are the experiences of students who have been there, done it and got the ‘T-shirt’. They survived, so will you. Here’s one story that shows the value of friends when times are tough:
“I was really lucky in halls. I had a really good group of friends and we’re still best mates now. But one of my best friends, who was in the flat below me, had an awful time. She had the worst flatmates who’d just sit around and smoke weed all day. She’d just be stuck in her room all the time. She got really homesick and would go home most weekends, so we tried to help her by inviting her around to our flat all the time. Basically, she used our kitchen and our lounge as her own and just used her flat for sleeping in. I think if she hadn’t had us living in the flat above she would have perhaps moved out and commuted into uni. She had the support around her of her friends.”
On the other side of the coin it can sometimes be difficult for friends to understand homesickness:
“We had a friend who was homesick in our first year and none of us understood it because we were all away from home. Every six to eight weeks after she got back from her holidays she would always get miserable, sulky and moody. None of us really twigged, because everyone was of the attitude that at 18 you should grow up. Even though we tried to be sympathetic, a lot of us couldn’t understand why she was so bothered about being away from home. Especially when we were like ‘get me out of the door’. But now I understand how it came about, I think it was quite difficult for her.”
Sometimes the reality of having to survive on your own two feet can be a delayed reaction:
“It’s often after that initial six week period that homesickness can kick in, because it’s suddenly; ‘oh crap! I’ve got uni work to do, I’ve got no money’ etc.”
Note from the TAG Team: The halls are all none smoking and the possession and use of drugs in against university regulations and the law! If you are caught in the possession or under the influence of drugs you may be asked to leave the university and could face criminal charges.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are living with someone who is involved with drugs speak to the Accommodation Service, your Students Liaison Officer or The 'i' they will help you or put you in contact with the service that will.
