Coming to university and leaving home for maybe the first time, can leave you feeling homesick. Sometimes this can be overwhelming. You may feel isolated, tearful and anxious. Perhaps you can't sleep and have lost your appetite or are drinking excessively. It may be hard to strike a balance between spending too much time on your own and being overly busy in order to avoid being on your own.

Maybe you feel a sense of anticlimax at finally arriving in university or have some doubts about your course or choice of university. Your personal tutor and the university's wardenning and careers staff are all available to help you at this time.

What to do 

• Accept that these feelings are normal and will usually lessen with time.

• Talk to others who are probably feeling the same as you.

• Think carefully about going home at weekends. Is this helpful or does the constant readjustment make you feel worse?

• Establish a routine which will prevent you from spending too much time on your own.

• Meet new people through activities outside of your course. A good place to start to do this is through sports and societies in the Students Union.

• Consider volunteering to help with a project through Student Community Action (Dim Prob) in the Students Union. This is a good way to meet other students and to help others


Homesickness can resurface at any time during your studies, but if it persists and stops you from doing normal social and academic activities, see a counsellor in the Student Advice and Counselling Centre.