Homesickness

America is a new continent and a new culture. It takes time to get into the rhythm there.

It is very common to feel home sick when you first arrive in the US. It happens to many clients we work with and is a natural feeling to have when you are away from home and in a new environment. This document is a guide to help provide you with some tools to overcome home sickness and make the most out of your college experience!

As a student-athlete in the US you will be busy competing in your sport as well as completing your studies. The advantage of playing a sport means you will have a good and familiar distraction from feeling home sickness by training, playing and competing. However, feeling home sick can still happen and we have provided some tips to help handle homesickness:

Explore your surroundings

You will be in unfamiliar surroundings, so it is a great idea to set some time to explore your town, city or campus with some friends to get to know the area better. Find a nice restaurant you like the look of, a cool coffee shop or a nice area where you can relax.

Check out new groups

There will be other international students on campus, look out for a student international society as it is a good way to meet others in a similar position to you. Talk about your experiences so far and how you are feeling with others in the same boat as you.

Talk about how you feel

Talk to friends, teammates and even the coaches. Your coach has invested time and money into you so they will want you to be happy and enjoy your time at University. Speak with them so they can help guide you through it. Coaches are there to help within your sport, but they care about your happiness and well-being above all else!

Schedule times to speak with family

Speaking with family on video chat can certainly help. Make sure you schedule certain times in the week to do this, making it part of your routine to get used to. Be careful, you don’t want to fall into the trap of doing this too much. If you do, it will have almost a negative affect and most probably make you miss home even more. By setting specific times it will provide more structure for you.

Home Comforts

Cooking your favourite foods or eating your favourite snacks from home is a fun way to tackle home sickness. Most supermarkets in the US have an 'international aisle' that may offer some food that reminds you of home.

Always look forward to what's ahead!

Whether it be a training, a game, classes, exploring the area or socialising - always look forward to what is next. Focus on the task in hand for that day and start creating a routine that you can get in to.

Try your best to utilise the tools above to help you feel more comfortable to begin enjoying your college experience. Reach out to your placement person and chat to them about how you feel as well, the most important advice we can offer is to talk about how you feel.