The homesick blues
Being homesick sucks, but going home and never getting your degree would suck more
Don’t get run over by that train while you’re running home to mommy/David Zhang
Author: Jessie Anton
According to Merriam Webster, the adjective “homesick” refers to the longing for home and family while absent from them. Some examples include: “He was homesick when he went to college,” as well as “She was homesick for her mother’s cooking.”
With that being said, old Mr. Webster was spot on with how our fellow students feel whilst being away from home.
For Honours History student Kelsey Comeau, finishing her degree at Nova Scotia’s Acadia University versus back home at the U of R makes her especially homesick when she often craves her mom’s legendary corn scallop at family dinners.
“I actually made it myself my first year away because I just couldn’t have a Thanksgiving without it,” Comeau admits.
for two of our second-year U of R students, Navit Asres and Tristen Duchak, who are currently taking a semester abroad at L’Université de Caen in France, homesickness occurs when they realize that ketchup chips and Tim Hortons are nowhere in sight.
“I miss not having to worry about what I’m going to eat for supper, but most of all not having the option to hop in my car and grab a bite to eat somewhere,” Asres confesses.
“In terms of eating, I miss that I can’t cook anything here because we don’t have space for ovens in our tiny dorm rooms, and we can’t figure out how to work our stoves,” Duchak adds.
Although food is top priority for many, these homesick students do tend to (sometimes) miss their families amidst their busy schedules.
Jessie Shirley, a third-year Education student here at the U of R, believes that her first year away was the worst for homesickness.
“Because all of my siblings are younger than me and still growing up, I felt as if I was missing out on a lot of things,” Shirley shares. “Now, in my third year, I feel as though the distance has brought me closer to my family, and we appreciate the time spent together more than ever. I truly believe that distance makes the heart grow fonder,” Shirley says, reassuring all those who are newly living on their own.
Sure, there is food and family to miss, but how about shorter lines at the grocery store? For second-year Pre-Journalism student, Alex Antoneshyn, small-town living is something that is certainly much more appreciated.
When asked what she misses most about back home in small town Kelliher, Saskatchewan, Antoneshyn teasingly lists “roads that never experience a traffic jam unless a combine or some other piece of farm machinery is to blame, line-ups at the single grocery store in town that (even on a holiday) maxes out at six people, and—most of all—the unlimited free parking!”
Finally, after asking each of these (and many other) homesick scholars how they cope with homesickness, they all replied by saying that texting and FaceTiming/Skyping play a major role in staying connected with their loved ones back home.
Then, after being questioned if they will stick it out for the semester or if they will cave, give up, and go home, they all replied claiming that the latter it is out of the question.
Temporarily being abroad, Tristen Duchak assures the Carillon that “being on your own (especially for the first time) allows you to discover yourself, and everyone should have that experience; to turn back now would defeat this purpose.”
A little closer to home, Alex Antoneshyn agrees that homesickness would not make her move back, as the distance has reinforced her idea of how “home is made special by the people who live there, and no matter where [one] ends up, [one] will always have their love and support.”
There you have it: there is no amount of lacking ketchup chips, missed soccer games, or long line-ups in the grocery store that can deter these homesick intellectuals from achieving their educational dreams, nor will it hinder their personal growth as human beings.
So, if any of you are reading this and are feeling the homesick blues, just remember it gets better in time, and you moved away for a reason—to better yourself (and to be that knowledgeable person at your twenty-fifth high school reunion with a good-paying job and a degree).
