The conversation this Wednesday caused me to reevaluate what “home” and “homesickness” really mean.
One intriguing takeaway from the discussion was that homesickness encompasses more than just want to return to a physical location. Both we and the location we leave behind continue to change when we are away from home for an extended period of time. Meanwhile, we progressively create new routines, connections, and memories in other places. Once unknown, a foreign location might gradually become a part of our daily existence.
This also caused me to consider what it was like to go back home. Sometimes we think of home as something steady and unaltered, but it could not feel exactly the same when we return after a lengthy absence. Even while we are eager to return, we also recognize that we have already started a new life somewhere else. This produces an intriguing emotional gap between departing, missing, coming back, and adjusting.
This conversation made it easier for me to comprehend homesickness as a more nuanced emotional experience for my research. In order to investigate ways to lessen homesickness among international students, I must first identify the specific aspects of home that they miss and the things that emotionally bind them to it. These emotions could be connected to familiar routines, relationships, memories, sensory experiences, or a feeling of security and comfort.
As a result, my research continues to concentrate on ways to lessen homesickness while investigating various strategies for providing international students with emotional support while they are away from home.
In the future, I want to know what aspects of “home” can make me feel the most at ease and how I can incorporate these aspects into my interventions. This will enable me to create more effective strategies for helping overseas students deal with homesickness.
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