Dealing With Homesickness This Term

University comes with a lot of hype and pressure to have the best few years of your life, before all of the fun ends and the real work begins.

But many students begin to feel homesick, especially when the fun of Christmas is behind us, and the prospect of January exams and the longest term is ahead.

Luckily, you don’t have to suffer alone and we have some tips that may help you along the way…

1. Get out of your room. It can be tempting to wrap yourself up in bed and binge watch whatever you can find on Netflix, but it’s important to socialise with your housemates and people on your course. It’ll feel a lot better to be out socialising, rather than stuck on your own.

2. Stay in touch with family and friends back home. Although some advocate separating yourself from your home life as much as possible when you’re away, we think they should be the first people to reach out to if you’re feeling down.

3. Get in contact with student support. All of the universities in Liverpool have great student services and can help you through a rough patch. Contact through these links: University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moore’s University and LIPA.

4. Stay healthy. What you eat and drink can have a big effect on your general attitude, as well as your health. Avoid anything unhealthy, cut down your caffeine and alcohol, and embrace all things green (within reason!)

5. Try being positive. Now we know this is certainly easier said than done, but we want you to have more of a ‘glass half full’ rather than ‘glass half empty’ attitude to university life. Chances are, you’ll begin to feel better and come the Easter holidays, you’ll be half way there!

6. Join a society. The perfect place to meet like minded people and have a bit of fun along the way.

7. Throw yourself into your work. Make the most of shutting yourself away by keeping your head firmly in a book. This term seems to last forever and with your January and May exams not far apart, you’ll be glad of the extra studying early on.

8. Be realistic. Not everything is going to be perfect; your housemates may not all get on, your course may be different to what you expected BUT there’ll be lots of good aspects of your time at university too so try to enjoy it!