Battling Homesickness

"Man, it's so great to be on my own at college!"

"I love this place! I never want to go home again!"

"They can close the dorms over winter break, but they'll have to lock me up inside 'em!"

We've all said these things, sure, but what we're thinking is much different:

"This place sucks! I want to be somewhere where my room is bigger than a broom closet!"

"These nights are too damn quiet for me; get me back to where you can't go an hour without a train whistling or a dog barking or a drive-by!"

"My roommate eats all my food, the dorm is always too cold, there's never any place or time to just sit and think peacefully, I can't take a shower without a line forming behind me; dear Lord, get me out of here!"

You can deny it as much as you want, but inside you know the truth: you're homesick. It may not be a constant issue, but it's something that everyone goes through every now and then whether they want to or not. So here's another patented self-help list from ZimmyTech (tm) to help stave away those Home Sweet Home (image, by the way, is courtesy of this site) Blues:

• Think about everything you don't like about home. Maybe the water in the shower is a little too cold. Maybe the neighborhood is always embroiled in gang wars. Just whatever little irritating thing that only gets at you when you're home. Reinforcing the negative like this will help you focus on the positive of being away.
• Keep pictures of your family handy. Anytime you get a little blue, just pull it up and think about how much better off they are without your expensive fanny at home sucking up all their food and water. You want your family to be happy, don't you?
• Make the most of your visits. Many people make regular trips home over the course of the semester. If you're one of these people, spend time with your family while you're there and make the most of your stay so the wait until the next one will be less drawn-out.
• Watch a few episodes of The Brady Bunch and imagine you're going home to that family. The mere thought should be enough to make you never want to leave campus again.