Keep Busy!
The best way to avoid feelings of homesickness is to keep yourself occupied. Take full advantage of all the entertainment and activities available to you!Accept your feelings!
One of the best ways to get over these feelings, is to firstly accept that you are feeling them! Many young people will pretend that they are not homesick for fear of looking childish and immature. People of all ages experience homesickness so as soon as you admit these feelings to yourself, the sooner you can feel better by talking to a friend about it.Talk to someone!
If you are out on a Sports Scholarship, chances are you are part of a team! Or you have a coach or advisor! Simply talking to someone about how you feel can help you get things into perspective and get those feelings off your chest. You might be surprised to find that many of your team mates are feeling the same!Stay in Touch!
In this day and age, it's easy to keep in touch! Use Skype and social networking to keep in touch with family and friends. It might relax you to hear a familiar voice, and it might remind you that you really aren't missing much back at home!Don't decorate!
Resist the temptation to decorate every available space with photographs and reminders of home! It's nice to think about people at home who are important to you, but it will only make you feel homesick to look at alot of these images all day. Keep these momento's to a minimum and balance them out with pictures of new friends!Exercise!
Focusing your mind on exercise is a great way to relieve sad thoughts of missing home. Exercise releases serotonin, a chemical produced by brain nerve cells that regulates emotion. Make sure you maintain a healthy diet and get regular exercise to help clear your mind!Help someone else!
Concentrate your mind on the good you can do for other people, rather than the sadness you feel. Consider volunteering for a charity or organization that concentrates on helping others. It will take your mind off being sad, put what your feeling into perspective and you might just be surprised at how much more energy and enthusiasm for life you'll have!Make new friends!
When you are feeling down, it's easy to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. However, this will get you no-where! Reach out and make the effort to meet new people and make new friends! Join an extra-curricular class, or get involved in an organization or team!Remember why you are there!
You are there because you have worked hard and have a passion for your sport, and have an ambition to succeed. You will be having an experience that many would give their right arm for so don't forget it! When it comes the time to visit home, it will be fantastic to see all your friends and family of course, but you will be surprised about how things at home stay the same. When you are away doing something exciting like studying for a degree at an American University, it's easy to get to thinking that somehow you are missing something at home, that things are changing without you.....chances are, nothings changed!Create a home away from home!
Get into the mindset that you are there for the long haul. Embrace your new city or town, and immerse yourself in their culture and the enjoy activities available to you there. Explore and have new adventures! Enjoy your time there because you will sure to miss it once those four years have passed! We hope that these tips have been helpful to you. Don't forget, if you are a former client out in the USA and want to speak to someone who has experienced what you are going through, always feel free to contact one of our members of staff! We are always available to help and offer advice!
