Life of A Study Abroad Student

Homesickness is a natural part of any off-campus experience. Have you started to feel a little homesick? What do you miss about home? What have you done or currently do to help alleviate feelings of homesickness or FOMO? Describe your experience with dealing with homesickness and ways to manage while participating in an off-campus program.

      I do not think I have had any explicit fits of homesickness, but rather reactionary moments that made me realize what I was fortunate enough to have had at home and do not have here. More than anything, I miss the familiarity of being at home: knowing where everything I could want and need are, knowing my way home from nearly wherever I am at, having a place that I consider to be my home. This desire for familiarity was what made me welcome Prague with open arms after Spring Break, since it was the first time in a week that I would be surrounded by a place that I felt I had at least some bearing in.
Figured it wouldn't be the smartest thing to post a picture of where I live, but here is the street I live on
     These feelings are often brought on by what I experience over here, yes, but they can also be brought on by what I see online. 90% of the people I have added on social media are from school and home and looking at their daily posts does not do me any favors when I see how great the weather is (though now that it is Spring, Prague is feeling pretty temperate), how my usual stomping grounds are hosting an event, or my friends having the times of the lives without me. I do not necessarily shut myself out from seeing these posts (though that is probably recommended), or recoil from uncomfortable experiences here, though they do make me miss home. Instead I ruminate on the situation I am in, how fortunate I am to be here, and how I can make the most of the time I have in the place I am currently at. I know it sounds preachy, but it is true. However, that act exists on the same spectrum as realizing when I need to have my alone time and stay inside, alone, navigating self-care while abroad and dealing with feelings of homesickness and fear of missing out (FOMO) is tricky.
Just up the street from where I live, the beautiful Vltava River.

     It’s always helpful to talk to people. Reaching out to friends and family back home, just to get a sense of grounding and a reminder of who I am and where I come from, always brings me back to the gratefulness for this experience that I mentioned earlier. Having people in the program to talk to is ESSENTIAL, because, odds are, they share the same feelings and that could be a topic that you can bond over and start build a more formal friendship from. Making friends is never easy, especially when it feels like you keep running into people that you do not click with (and you already have an established group of people that you already click with back at home), but it is always worthwhile to put yourself out there; good conversations are food for the soul.

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The view on my way to class on a recent morning.

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