Cambodian students who study abroad can feel homesick when they are away from homes. This is special for those who are not often away from homes. Homesickness can be challenging. It is described as the sadness and longing for not being homes for a fairly or very long time period. We understand that our students can feel homesick, and it is normal. No matter what, here is a list of suggestions for those of you who feel homesick when studying abroad and being away from homes.
- Take a Rest from Social Media
There is a study that suggests that being active on social media reduces your life satisfaction. There is no doubt that social media can take a toll on your emotional well-being especially when you are feeling homesick. Some students choose to be more active on social media when they are feeling lonely, uncomfortable and homesick when being away from home. We don’t encourage you to be active and encourage Cambodian students to be less active on social media.
- Give it a Try Local Foods
You can feel homesick for now, but when you come back home, many can realise they miss the great opportunities of exploring local cultures when being abroad. As a result, we encourage you to try everything local especially local foods. There can many restaurants in your towns when you can find many interesting mobile applications that guide you for local restaurants. Please take this chance because you never know whether you will be there again or not.
- Make a Challenge List of What You Want to Do
It is time to start a bucket challenge for you. You can search on websites and the Internet for the recommended places to visit and recommended activities to do when you are being local in the towns or cities you are studying. There can be many places to visit and many activities you can do there. If the Internet doesn’t give enough info, ask your foreign friends what you should do when you are being there.
- Keeping in Touch with Friends/Families
Even though, you reduce your time with social media; keeping in touch with friends and families at home is another story. It reduces homesickness because you got an opportunity to share your stories with those people. They can also allow you to know what is up to their lives when you are being abroad. Therefore, there are few chances that you can be disconnected from friends and families when being abroad. You can also hangout with some Cambodian friends, you can check out the Popular Destinations for Cambodian Student to Study.
- Keep Yourselves Busy
It is smart to keep yourselves busy. Your school or university campuses can offer huge spaces for running and jogging. You can have many assignments to do when there are many people you should make friendship with such as local friends and professors abroad. You can make more meaningful connections when they can share with you information about both academic and professional opportunities. You get to do cool things later on with each other because you never know this matter until it is there.You can also check out the countries that allow you to work here.
- Take Cares of Yourselves
It is true that you should take cares of yourselves whether you stay local or abroad. However, taking cares of yourselves when abroad matters a lot. It does matter because there are times you need to stay alone in your dorm rooms. Some of you don’t have roommates when others prefer being alone and independent. As a result, please do not forget to take good cares of yourselves because it matters. Check out whether you need to have routine check-ups and polishing with your teeth, medical check-up or whether you iron your clothes properly or not. Arrange your rooms and make your beds every day because they can give you some senses of achievements and keep you being present.
- Volunteer or Play Sports
There are many reasons that volunteering is helpful to improve your mental well-being because you stay connected with communities. Besides, you learn new skills and add a new experience to your resume. As helpful as volunteering, playing sports such as footballs, volleyballs, tennis and more can be productive. It helps you to build friendship and bonding with foreign friends. There shouldn’t be any fusses for you to volunteer or play sports.
- Stay Positive
There are many reasons to stay positive when being homesick and studying abroad. You should not forget that your families have the ability to afford your school fees. Meanwhile, you are receiving the top quality of education. You are having bright futures, and there is no doubt that you should keep reminding yourselves to stay positive when feeling homesick.
- Ask for Helps
If you feel very low and cannot handle things anymore, please seek help. There can be counselling offered at many universities abroad. You can look for the service at the student service or ask your professors for the locations of the counselling services. Most schools offer this service for free. Please feel free to talk to your education agents who send you to study abroad because they can offer your advice and suggestion with their experience, as well.
What Should You Get from the Article?
In the article, Cambodian students get some tips to address homesickness when they are studying in foreign countries or abroad. These tips are such as taking a rest from social media, having a try for local foods, making a bucket list of what you want to do, keeping in touch with friends/families, keeping yourselves busy, taking cares of yourselves, volunteering or playing sports, staying positive and asking for help.
Many of Cambodian who want to study abroad can contact us WEduAbroad the Cambodia-based consultancy for studying abroad with free consultations before your departure and free counselling when you have moments of homesickness because we have the best customer service the industry can offer. Pay a visit to us at the 9th Floor, B-Ray Tower, Preah Norodom Blvd, Tonle Bassak Commune, Chamkamorn District, Phnom Penh (map here) or contact us via phone call 017 548 354. You can also visit our facebook at: www.facebook.com/WEduAbroad/
Sources
- https://housinganywhere.com/6-ways-to-deal-with-homesickness-when-studying-abroad
- https://www.studyinternational.com/help-and-advice/4-ways-to-beat-homesickness-when-studying-abroad
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#882efd22e5af
