Every year, the UK invites students from all across the world. Studying in the UK provides an opportunity for international students to experience the diversity of culture by connecting with multiple people from their own and other unique cultures as well. In this way, UK universities try to make their students feel at home.
However, nothing can beat the comfort and support of family and home. According to reports, almost every other international student is found to be coping with homesickness. The cultural differences and academic pressure without any familiar support require emotional adjustment. Let’s take a look at international students’ reviews about homesickness and how they’ve handled it.
Balance Is the Key
Ayesha was a Pakistani student who came to the UK against everyone’s will. Everything went well for the student welcoming week, but after that, she started to fall apart when the feeling of loneliness kicked in. She tried coping with homesickness by calling her family.
Their approval later on made her feel better. She realised after a long time how much time she had been spending on her video calls daily without focusing on socialisation and her assignments. For her studies, she approached assignment help UK, and to cope with her homesickness, she switched her daily calls to three times a week, joined a photography club, and made friends from different cultures.
Social Networking Creates a Social Life
James, an international student from Malaysia, has been a sportsman all his life. He got the scholarship on the basis of his football. English was never his best suit, and it was a big stressor for him to think about how he would be able to connect to his teammates, which is an important aspect of football.
His worries didn’t bother him for long because joining the football team gave him an instant group of friends. They invited him to the weekend matches and pub quizzes. Even the football team had players from multiple cultures, which gave him the confidence and made him feel connected to his teammates.
Places That Remind You of Yours
Elena, a student from Spain, came to study history and valued historical places as well. She didn’t find her campus interesting enough and missed the culture around her city badly. But Elena was not one of those who wanted to whine about going back after coming somewhere. She decided to make herself familiar with the city by making a list of five places for each month.
The university she started with distaste ended with a huge smile on her face, as she spent her last year visiting museums and hidden cafe´s while working on her dissertation with the assistance of dissertation help UK. By the end of the university, she came to know the city better than the locals, and the streets began to feel interesting and familiar.
Even Things from Home Feel Home
Ravi was an international student from India. He was very excited when he came to university and had no issues with homesickness. He had been a foodie all his life and was eager to try food from different cultures. But the excitement wore off as time went by, and the food started to feel stale and tasteless.
The second thing that bothered him was the winter outfits. It’s not like he didn’t like wearing jackets and hoodies, but being Asian, the cold weather felt too cold even in the dorm room, and wearing sweaters and jackets inside the rooms felt awkward. Later on, after spending vacations at home, he brought a jar of Indian spice and his favourite shawl with him.
A Guide of a Supporting Hand, Professional or Personal
An Egyptian student, Ahmed, became a victim of extreme homesickness due to academic stress. Ahmed came to study in the UK without knowing how the independent education style works. Without any academic or personal support, he felt lost and clueless when he didn’t know where to turn to ask for help.
However, the anxiety of upcoming exams made him extremely homesick. At first, he didn’t want to show the “sign of weakness” by approaching the services of wellbeing at his university. He attended free sessions, which made him relax and seek online exam help to find professional support to help him prepare for his exams.
A Homely Routine and A Sense of Home
Sofia was an international student who came from Brazil. She was an introvert and didn’t talk to many people. She travelled for the first time and came to the UK to complete her PhD programme. She found it hard to beat her sleep cycle and struggled with unpredictable sleep. Her irregular diet was also becoming a part of the problem.
Later on, she began setting goals. Her moods and focus, which were facing an imbalance, got better with her previous routine she used to follow back in her country, including morning jogs and diet plans. A particular routine brought stability in her life, which not only enhanced her physical and mental health but also her academic performance.
Cultural Societies with Your Culture and Societies
Mei, an international student from China, spent her first month feeling completely isolated. The silent racism and accusations of COVID were becoming unbearable for her, and she was regretting her decision to ever come to the UK. This isolation was affecting her student life badly and disturbing her emotionally, socially, and academically.
Her supervisor, who herself was Chinese and understood Mei’s condition very well, advised her to join the Asian Cultural Society. The society gave her a chance to make friends and get people to ask for help by saying, “Do my assignment.” The group organised dumpling-making nights, traditional music events, and Lunar New Year celebrations.
The Diversity of Morals from Diverse Stories
Homesickness is a common and normal part of going far away from home, but it shouldn’t hold the power to control your whole university experience. The stories mentioned above have told us how students have been coping with homesickness by taking multiple proactive steps and staying connected.
If you’re an international student and trying to cope with your loneliness, know that you are not alone in feeling this. More than half of the international students feel like that. Your university is an important part of your life, and once it ends, the UK will also be as close to you as your own home.
