Homesickness at University

Hey, I'm Emily, a second year Physiotherapy student at Keele University. I'm on an integrated masters course so my degree is four years long. I'm from Nottingham and hope to move back to the East Midlands after my degree. At the moment my area of interest is CVR, specifically respiratory physiotherapy. I am slightly obsessed with Grey's Anatomy and am teaching myself embroidery.

I had my heart set on a Physiotherapy degree since year ten. I got myself into a Physiotherapy summer school, volunteered at dementia exercise class and read everything. I was prepared. I had my offer; I got the grades and bought all the essentials.   

What I wasn't ready for was the homesickness. I have always been a home bird, at most I've spent a week away from my parents, mainly due to holidays away with friends being out of my budget. I always knew that moving away from home would be tough but if my brother could do it, so could I. Plus I had found a degree that made my heart sing, so surely it wouldn't be that bad. I was very wrong.  

I was lucky, I made an amazing group of friends within days, without whom I'm sure I would not still be at university. Even still, every day I woke up and cried. Most of the time I didn't even know what I was crying about. I missed home. I missed my family. I missed my friends.  

 On top of that the course was intense. I had no prior detailed anatomy knowledge except what's taught in A level Biology (which is surprisingly little). It was very easy to feel overwhelmed and as though the course was not for me.  

 I settled into the course within a month, found what I liked and how to revise. I knew that Physiotherapy was the only course for me. It was the university lifestyle that took a lot longer to settle into. I went to the university for advice and was appointed a second year student to talk to. This helped slightly but seemed to fall short of what I needed.

In truth the issue wasn't just that I was a home bird and on a tough course, it was that I was grieving the loss of a family member. I think that I didn’t realise this had contributed. 

 It wasn't till after Christmas that I felt finally settled, I stopped crying and started enjoying the experience. In a way I don't regret how I felt in the first semester because overcoming that has made me grow as a person and I can see that growth on a daily basis. Despite that, I hate to think that anyone would feel the way I did because it was horrible.  

I found very little advice and resources for homesickness, which shocked me as my university talked a lot about mental health. I feel that universities need to have more in place for homesickness, because it's not as simple as missing home or having to do your own laundry. Until that happens, here's some advice from me. 

 Firstly, it is okay to be upset and to miss home. It's natural when you are pulled out of your comfort zone and put down in the middle of somewhere new with possibly no one that you know, especially if change is hard for you. What you need to do, which took me a long time, is to learn how to deal with your sadness. One way to do this is to try and understand what you're feeling and why. This can be difficult at first, but often talking freely about how you feel can help you unpick your emotions, whether it's with a university councillor or a friend.

Secondly, take a break. University work can be overwhelming, especially in health care courses and especially after a global pandemic. You need something to blow off steam. I personally found the Headspace app very helpful. Get stuck into a TV show or have games night with your friends, just doing something each day that gets you out of your head and away from your desk can do the world of good. 

 My final piece of advice, explore. Take walks around your campus and local town, alone or with friends. This is the best way for you to get accustomed to your surroundings and make it feel more like home. Scout places to revise in nice weather or go for a cheap lunch. Doing this will help to occupy your mind. Whilst understanding how you feel is important, sitting in your room with your feelings for too long can make you feel worse.  

 I hope that by sharing a bit of my experience and how I coped it will help someone else out there.