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By mtumasz

Kia Ora mates! It's Merideth writing from Middle Earth.

In New Zealand, universities are starting to prep for final exams, and this means I actually need to get my butt into gear and put the "study" back into study abroad. This is stressful, and it's common for abroad kids to start to feel homesick during this time. I am totally guilty of this, and have been getting pangs of home-sickness lately.

All semester, we have been able to coast through our work and have fun and go adventuring, but there's no escaping finals, and being stressed in a foreign country just makes you miss the comforts of home even more.

Dealing with homesickness can be tricky, but I've come up with a few pointers to cope with it.

  • Stay busy. You will miss home less if you're not constantly sitting in your room debating life!
  • Make plans in your study abroad country until right before you leave. This way you have other things to look forward to besides going home.
  • Try not to plan things for when you are home, because then you will just focus on those and look forward to those activities, instead of taking advantage of the last little bit of time you have abroad.
  • Try not to Skype your friends from home too much. If they tell you how much fun they're having while you're gone, it will only make your homesickness worse.
  • You're not alone! I'm sure most of your friends abroad are also going through the same thing. Talk it out with them!

Hope this is helpful! I have a countdown of when I'm going home on my laptop, which probably isn't the best idea, but it will be bittersweet when I leave!

Just try to remember to make the best of the little bit of time you have while abroad. You don't want to regret anything as soon as you get back to the states!

Cheers!