“New Help for Homesick Students on Campus”, written by Sue Shellenbarger, explores the concept of homesickness as a distinct emotional condition. Oftentimes, homesickness might be attributed to qualities like sensitivity or a fear of change, but this article explains how researchers have determined that homesickness is its own emotional condition and should be treated as such. Shellenbarger describes several popular causes of homesickness on college campuses—missing pets, missing a mother’s home cooking, or longing for a lost routine. The article later discusses the fact that many who are homesick do not discuss it or ask for support, which can make it easy to underestimate the percentage of homesick students. Researchers have decided that …show more content…
At this point in the semester, time can often seem to “drag” on, allowing for feelings of homesickness or loneliness to arise, which is completely normal. I think it is important how Shellenbarger raised the point that homesickness is not something that many people frequently discuss. As a result, it is quite possible that residents might be struggling, just not doing so publicly. Especially as an RA in a first-year community, I personally believe that it is very likely that several of my residents have already, are currently, or will suffer from some form of homesickness. With the new information I have learned from the article, I feel more comfortable talking about homesickness and helping to determine possible remedies. Sometimes, hearing that you are not alone can be extremely comforting in a difficult situation. Now that I know just how prevalent homesickness truly is on college campuses, I can share that information with homesick residents and suggest some practices that others have found successful. Also, knowing that homesickness can come and go several times and appear at any point, I feel more aware of adjustments my residents are making on a daily basis. Overall, I found this article to be informative because of the fact it addresses a topic I am likely to encounter in my role as an RA, explores causes of a condition, and suggests