{"id":14451,"date":"2016-02-08T11:17:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T11:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/?p=3702"},"modified":"2016-02-08T11:17:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T11:17:40","slug":"coping-with-homesickness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2016\/02\/08\/coping-with-homesickness\/","title":{"rendered":"Coping with homesickness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tHomesickness is something that affects many students, and not just those who have travelled hundreds of miles to university. Even if you only live a short distance away, you\u2019ll probably miss home at some point. You might even feel fine at the beginning, but suddenly start feeling homesick after you\u2019ve settled in. As postgraduate students, many of us will have lived and studied away from home before, but that doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t still experience homesickness from time to time. Starting all over again in a new place is bound to make us feel a little bit overwhelmed sometimes. It\u2019s all completely normal, and there are lots of ways to deal with it.<\/p>\n

Coming from Ireland, I\u2019ve had the experience of moving to another country while still only being an hour\u2019s flight away. I didn\u2019t have to deal with culture shock like a lot of other international students do. But there are still times when I\u2019ve felt homesick. Missing my family has been the main aspect of this. I\u2019ve always been very close to my parents and am used to sharing everyday life with them, so sometimes it\u2019s difficult not to be able to do that.<\/p>\n

I surprised myself with how quickly I adapted to life in Bournemouth. I think that coming straight from undergraduate study helped make the transition easier, and when people asked me if I was homesick, I said, \u201cNot really, no.\u201d However, when I came back to Bournemouth after the Christmas break, I found it very difficult for a few days. Maybe it was because I\u2019d spent three weeks at home and had to readjust, but I suddenly felt unexpectedly homesick. It goes to show that even if you\u2019re used to being away, sometimes it\u2019s still emotionally tough.<\/p>\n\"Homesickness---Dublin-flight\"<\/a>\n

The view of Dublin from the plane back to Bournemouth<\/em><\/p>\n

Keeping in regular contact with family and friends helps a lot. Skype and Face Time are brilliant for this. Being able to call home and keep everyone updated on what\u2019s going on helps me maintain that link, and sometimes when I\u2019m having a bad day there\u2019s just no substitute for some family words of wisdom!<\/p>\n

It may sound obvious, but keeping busy is also key to beating homesickness. The more time you invest in your new surroundings, friends and studies, the happier you\u2019ll feel overall. If you\u2019re already feeling vulnerable, being isolated will only make you feel worse. Reach out to those around you and talk about how you feel. I can guarantee there is someone else who\u2019s also feeling a bit down or homesick.<\/p>\n

I think the most important thing to remember is that it\u2019s okay to feel this way. Don\u2019t assume you shouldn\u2019t because you\u2019re a postgraduate student, or if your home isn\u2019t very far away. You\u2019re allowed to miss things and people you\u2019ve left. It\u2019s a natural part of life and being a student. Just make sure you look after yourself and do the things that make you happy, and if you\u2019re struggling, there\u2019s always someone who can help.<\/p>\n

By Sarah Stacey<\/strong>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homesickness is something that affects many students, and not just those who have travelled hundreds of miles to university. Even if you only live a short distance away, you\u2019ll probably miss home at some point. You might even feel fine at the beginning, but suddenly start feeling homesick after you\u2019ve settled in. As postgraduate students,… Read more » about Coping with homesickness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1448,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1658,1663],"tags":[877,130,48,785,239,1028],"class_list":["post-14451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-archive","category-postgraduate","tag-bournemouth","tag-bournemouth-university","tag-bu","tag-international-student","tag-student-support","tag-study"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}