When starting university the majority of students are too busy partying and enjoying Freshers that they let their friends and family back home slip to their back of their mind, however, after Freshers home sickness can hit everyone. Here’s why keeping in touch with home is so important.
I’m not saying that everyone gets struck by home sickness, some people don’t, but never the less it’s important to stay in contact with home! Some people will be home sick from the start and it makes it very hard to enjoy Freshers or your opening weeks to university. It’s different for everybody, however you have to remember there are people back home that want to know how you are doing.
It’s difficult to give advice because like I said, everybody is different. You have those that will forget to ring their parents until after Freshers, those that will ring everyday during Freshers and those that ring every now and again (which is what I would suggest) and those that just don’t. Everybody is different, so, I’ll just go from there. If it helps you, fantastic! If not, you’ll pick up your own experiences in your own time.
Let’s begin! (Of course this purely focuses on people living away from home).
As soon as your parents or friends or guardians leave you on moving in day the majority will be lost in making friends, chatting away and settling into their room. There is so much going on and they’ve only just left you that you’re too busy to focus on the fact you are now living ‘alone’. The minority (like me) will have a moment of this deep realisation that you are now living ‘alone’ and realise how for many years you took everything your guardians did for granted and then question how you’ll ever survive (not to scare you or anything) but it comes naturally and you just have to jump in! However, I’m not here to focus on that in this article.
Like I’ve established multiple times, everybody is different.
Some people will advise not talking to anyone from back home for at least a week so it gives you and them time to adjust being apart and make sure you don’t rely on calling them to get through the day. It’s a good way of doing things and it’s a ruthless way of doing it. It works for some, it doesn’t for others.
Others will say wait a couple of days and then ring them and just have a good old chat and catch up, for others this will be a bad idea.
Others will say wait for your guardians to ring you, therefore, you don’t have to worry about you ringing them however, then you may not talk for ages because guardians will be leaving you to settle in and will trust you’ll call as of when – it’s a very complicated process now I come to think of it. Or I’m just over complicating it.
Despite all of this, I’d say, call them as of when you feel you need too because guess what, there’s no shame in it.
It’s IMPORTANT to keep in touch with home because they are the ones that are suppoting you most (for the majority) and they just want to hear how you are doing. It doesn’t have to be a long call just a quick one to hear each others voices and have a qucik update on what each other is doing. It’s a good thing to keep in touch. Even once a week is good to have a catch up on what you’ve been doing, share stories and what not. It’s important to have that connection with the ones back home – it makes sure that you don’t get trapped in the bubble that is ‘university’. Believe me university can become a bubble. You get stuck in that little word of lectures, studying, nights out and what not – you forget about everything outside of it until you visit home. Oh! Visits home are important. If you can get home via train, car or someone picking you up I’d suggest doing it at least once a month (great for taking your washing back!).
A lot of students like to keep their individuality and freedom and just keep themselves to themselves for a while and like I keep stressing, everybody is different. Don’t compare yourself to others – if they don’t call home everyday, it doesn’t mean you can’t. At university it’s so important to be comfortable and happy and as stress free as possible because things can build up so quickly, so make sure you find whatever it is that makes you feel that way and if it’s speaking to home, then that’s fine.
I spoke to my mum at least once a day, if not, every other day and that’s what made me happy because I could share how my lectures had been, catch up with the family news and what not.
At the end of this, my message is make sure you keep in touch with family and friends from back home because it is important and whether or not you got that from this article, you’ll experience it in your own time during university.
JustGeorgeJ 