Overcoming Homesickness

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Many students go to college far away from their home for various reasons, such as achieving higher education, being independent from parents, and meeting new people. These students usually experience homesickness, especially international students. This is one of the biggest problems they experience in their new place. Because they miss all of the wonderful things from homes, such as foods, families, and friends, they feel anxiety, depression, and loneliness. They should realize the process of overcoming homesickness begins with adjusting to their new location, relieving stress, and getting involved on campus. Initially, adjusting their new place makes them feel comfortable. They should try as many new things as possible to enjoy …show more content…

When students are in their new place, they usually feel stressed for various reasons, such as new circumstance, a lot of homework, and relationships with people. Feeling stressed relates to depression, and then may cause of homesickness, so they should get rid of stress by doing physical activities. According to “How to Deal With Homesickness?”, YouTube video, 2:01, “Research has shown that exercise releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins can help fight anxiety and depression, which are both common side-effects of homesickness” (LIFE COACH, 2:01). Some students do exercise regularly to make feel better. Other students hang out with their friends to feel refreshed. Moreover, another way to dealing with stress is to find causes of being stressed. Students firstly determine whether they are able to reduce stress by themselves or need help from other people and then if they need help, they should tell other people about what they feel because sharing their feelings may help them feel better. Ways to reduce stress depend on people, so they need to find best way to do …show more content…

Students should get involved into activities on campus, and participate in groups. It is hard for some students to do so in the new location, but if they do not get involved on campus, they may feel alone and sadness and then want to go back home. When they participate in activities, they will meet new people and have fun there. Furthermore, according to “How to Deal With Homesickness?”, YouTube video, 3:22, “The best way to develop a strong social support network is to put yourself into situations where you’ll meet new people, especially if you have similar interests” (LIFE COACH, 3:22). If they get into social groups, they do not only socialize with new friends but also share about their feelings about homesickness, so that they may not feel alone anymore. They need to make new friends and socialize with them proactively to break out of their

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