College life can be difficult, lonely, and at times sad for international students experiencing homesickness. We find ourselves constantly wanting to call family or old friends. We also can feel uncomfortable around new people and new activities. However, these symptoms of homesickness are completely normal and we can cope with them effectively.

We should never let ourselves sink from the thoughts that we have with whatever we see on the internet. Thoughts are like Instagram reels or Tik Tok videos — once we get into deep thoughts, it will be hard for us to escape from them. Having deep thoughts can lead us to negative emotions as well.

Being busy and getting involved in real life rather than social media can also help us relieve homesickness. When are mind is occupied, we will only focus on our work, so we will not have enough time to think about where we come from. Although having a tight schedule is a good thing to help homesickness, we must not forget to take a rest as well.

The other thing we can do to escape from homesickness is to build ourselves a community. Try to make friends with other international students, share the difference in cultures and try to appreciate the existence of one another. It will help us boost our ego and gain confidence, and feel a sense of belongingness.

We should also try to make new friends, talk to more people and never hesitate to start a conversation with the other students around us. Participating in volunteer opportunities is one good way to make friends. We will find people with similar interests in volunteer work and being with them will help us get over our homesickness.

Moreover, we can also use dating apps to get friends or partners to share our anxieties or find ways we can have fun together. Dating apps let us meet people who have the same preferences as you do. Nowadays, there are even some apps and websites that will help us to find a group of friends with similar interests as you have. We can explore the city and new surroundings with our new friends and enjoy life.

However, we must recognize that feeling homesickness is normal and we have to make it temporary, otherwise, it will affect our studies. No matter how hard life is for us to study abroad, we must help each other to overcome all the barriers, finish our studies and follow our dreams.