Embracing Homesickness: Advice from Amy

As a final conclusion to family weekend, the topic of the week shall be: Homesickness. I’ll start by saying that it is in no way ‘uncool’ to miss home. You are not weak, or immature, or unready to be here. You are you, and your feelings are valid. Even if you claim not to miss darling Mom and dear old Dad, you might miss petting your dogs, the smell of your kitchen, or the simple luxury of not being afraid to shower barefoot. An old English teacher used to tell me, ‘find the exotic in the familiar,’ it’s now time to reverse that. Just because the place is gone, does not mean the qualities that made it special are.

I asked one question to a senior, junior and sophomore on campus: What were your feelings about leaving home this year? Senior, Alec Schwartz, admits that for his senior year he was “more excited to get back into school, [and] much more eager to transition back to Dickinson.” He went on to discuss his excitement for everything that senior year had to offer, and everyone that would be waiting for him when he arrived back on campus. His advice to anyone missing home is to, “embrace discomfort because when you’re pushed outside of your bubble, that’s when you truly grow.”

Junior, Jen Zapata, had a slightly different experience coming back to campus then Schwartz. Zapata spent the past summer at home with her parents, in contrast to the previous summer when she had stayed on campus to do research. She said, “I really really did not want to go back to campus, I just wanted to continue couch potato-ing…it was a little bittersweet coming back.” She continued to talk about how the previous time spent away from her parents really allowed her appreciation for them to grow. With all that said, she spoke briefly about her experience freshman year saying that, “the excitement helped me overcome my homesickness,” and still does this year.

The final person I spoke to took a slightly different approach for combatting homesickness. Sophomore, Katelyn Rademacher, said that she feels much more comfortable on campus this year because she knew what to expect, and she had a community to come back to. The thing that she has found most useful in dealing with homesickness thus far is finding other activities to occupy her time. She says, “I would say just to keep busy [and] find activities you like. It helps to find things you enjoy on campus and then you have less time to worry and think about home.”

As a freshman, I have to say that I have not experienced very much homesickness since arriving. I was certainly nervous in coming to Dickinson, but I think that had more to do with the fact that my first day in Pennsylvania was the day I moved onto campus. If you are anything like me, then you’ve probably spent a great amount of time making Dickinson feel like home- keep it up. I already feel like I have a family here on campus and they’re just as quirky, psychotic and loving as the one I left behind.