Homesickness

Question:

As always, thank you so much for the Alice books, as they have brought much
insight and happiness to myself and many other readers. I am in my second
semester of college, and I wrote to you last summer asking for advice regarding
homesickness. I was so worried that I would be completely distraught and missing
my family and your advice helped. I was hardly homesick at all! Then, I went
home for winter break only to discover how wonderful my family is. I spent a
month taking advantage of every day with them and having the best time! Now,
coming back to school, I am more homesick than I have ever been. I have
attributed this feeling to several factors: I have no close friends, I am
questioning my major, and, of course, I love my family and miss them. I feel so
overwhelmed with not knowing what I want to do with my life and cannot help
wanting my supportive family by my side. This is truly a very difficult time for
me, yet I am baffled as to why this time around I feel like I need my family
more than ever. I realize I need to become independent, and I was LAST semester,
but something has changed and I cannot quite figure out how to make myself feel
better. I know my email is all over the place, but any advice would be much
appreciated.

Phyllis replied:

You haven’t said whether or not you’ve seen a counselor.  I know a person who went through much the same as you in the sophomore year, and got enormous help by being part of a support group of other homesick students.  It also enabled him to make friends, which you  need right now.  Please do confide in a college counselor and ask if there isn’t a support group that would be right for you.  Just sharing your feelings and listening to others report the same kinds of feelings would do a lot to make you feel more secure in the questions you’re facing, normal questions that are common to students all through their college years.  I also would love to hear from other readers of this Alice blog who have dealt with their own homesickness.  What helps?  You readers often come through for each other, and I welcome your emails.