Navigating Homesickness
By Angelina Nunez
December 18, 2025
Photo Credit: Angelina Nunez
With Thanksgiving break done and gone and winter break approaching, some students are grappling with homesickness. The mix of academic pressures and being away from home during the holiday season can make it difficult to focus during the final weeks of the semester.
Kennedy Griffith, an Information and Technology Design major with a minor in General Business, experienced a lot of homesickness in her transition coming back from winter break last semester. As an out-of-state student, Griffith found herself visiting only during school breaks and holidays, which only intensified her homesickness.
This semester, she visited home less often because she was much more busy; however, that busyness helped ease her homesickness. “[I was] less busy last semester and more homesick, and more busy this semester and less homesick,” said Griffith.
She said that when she feels homesickness, she turns to familiar comforts. “I will call my family or watch TV or movies to take my mind off of it.” After the long break, Griffith found it easier to return this semester largely because staying busy helps her settle back into her routine.
For other students, homesickness is less frequent but can still show up unexpectedly. Madison Richards, also an information Science major, said she rarely felt homesick during her first year since she lives close to campus and had spent time away from home before during summer camps. However, one moment during her second semester on campus made her uneasy, seeking the comfort of home.
“It was around the middle of the semester, and I was trying to get involved with a club on campus,” Richards said. “I was feeling unsure of myself, and whether or not I would be successful or fit in, and in that moment I felt a bit homesick.” She called her mom soon after, “Just to hear something familiar,” Richards said.
Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care Chief Psychologist, Stephanie Marcello, acknowledged the unpredictability of homesickness in an article with Rutgers Health. “Acknowledge your feelings. There is no right or wrong way to feel during this transition, and there is no right or wrong time for it to appear,” said Marcello.
Navigating homesickness is a large part of the “college experience” that almost every college student experiences at some point in their academic career. Things like frequent calls home, familiar routines or simply creating your own community on campus can help students navigate what makes being away from home easier for them.
Kennedy Griffith, an Information and Technology Design major with a minor in General Business, experienced a lot of homesickness in her transition coming back from winter break last semester. As an out-of-state student, Griffith found herself visiting only during school breaks and holidays, which only intensified her homesickness.
This semester, she visited home less often because she was much more busy; however, that busyness helped ease her homesickness. “[I was] less busy last semester and more homesick, and more busy this semester and less homesick,” said Griffith.
She said that when she feels homesickness, she turns to familiar comforts. “I will call my family or watch TV or movies to take my mind off of it.” After the long break, Griffith found it easier to return this semester largely because staying busy helps her settle back into her routine.
For other students, homesickness is less frequent but can still show up unexpectedly. Madison Richards, also an information Science major, said she rarely felt homesick during her first year since she lives close to campus and had spent time away from home before during summer camps. However, one moment during her second semester on campus made her uneasy, seeking the comfort of home.
“It was around the middle of the semester, and I was trying to get involved with a club on campus,” Richards said. “I was feeling unsure of myself, and whether or not I would be successful or fit in, and in that moment I felt a bit homesick.” She called her mom soon after, “Just to hear something familiar,” Richards said.
Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care Chief Psychologist, Stephanie Marcello, acknowledged the unpredictability of homesickness in an article with Rutgers Health. “Acknowledge your feelings. There is no right or wrong way to feel during this transition, and there is no right or wrong time for it to appear,” said Marcello.
Navigating homesickness is a large part of the “college experience” that almost every college student experiences at some point in their academic career. Things like frequent calls home, familiar routines or simply creating your own community on campus can help students navigate what makes being away from home easier for them.