My mom and dad never went to college, but growing up I never really thought of not going to college as an option. I also never thought of myself going to college in family terms either, but I have tried to step back and take a better look at how my school life effects my family life. I find that due to studying and assignments that I have less time to spend with family. This is while still living at home too. My sister, who's 21 and goes to Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, complains nonstop of being homesick and I never really understood until I visited her for the first time a few weekends ago. She does not have a roommate, so while that may seem glamorous to some, I think it would get extremely lonely very quickly. I also was not even too excited to visit her for the weekend anyway, I thought, "Hey, I've spent the better part of 15 years living with my sister, why do I have to throw another weekend on top of that?". I was surprised at how excited she was to see me though. She showed me off to all her friends, bursting with joy that her little brother could come see her and see where she lives and what she does etc. I started to understand that though I'm going to community college and I can kind of pick and choose when I want to hang out with some of my family, my sister is a couple of states away and does not have that luxury. It made me appreciate the visit more and vow to see her again in the near future.
My adoptive sister Katie goes to Virginia Tech and she also is feeling homesick so her brother Kevin and I are going to visit her this weekend. The previous visit with my sister taught me that these family visits mean more because we hardly get to see one another anymore so I take it as a sort of personal responsibility to make my sisters feel better about not being closer to home. I think that's a responsibility of families as a whole to support one another when there is obviously a lot of sadness in the direction of certain family members.
Homesickeness can even cause measurable emotional stress on college students as you can see in table 6 of the attached link.
WOOSLEY, SHERRY A., and DUSTIN K. SHEPLER. "Understanding The Early Integration Experiences Of First-Generation College Students." College Student Journal 45.4 (2011): 700-714. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
This is a great start, Eric! I think this is the perfect post to fold in some research on the psychological effects of moving away from home and homesickness. Do you think that your sister's situation in Pennsylvania has affected her social life and academic standing? What advice could you give to her (and to readers who are suffering as well) to help her through the college-move transition?
ReplyDeleteThink of how you can layer the text with analysis of the phenomenon of homesickness and loneliness. That's one focus of this text. The other is the influence of parents' education on the next generation. How do your parents feel about your sister and you being in college? What is that dynamic?
I've always thought that people who be happy about leaving their family and going away to college. But I've realized from just being in community college that someday I will have to leave here and go off to a university and leave my immediate friends and family behind. It makes me sad to have to leave the comfortable life I've made here and start a new one in a new place where I don't know anyone. Great post! I'll remember to appreciate visits from friends and family when I transfer.
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