Jon's Declassified WAIP Survival Guide: 5 Ways to Deal with Feeling Homesick

This week marks the fourth week since fall move-in, and what a great four weeks it has been. So far, every experience and opportunity here has been incredibly rewarding and I have fallen in love with this city. That being said, I can’t help but feel homesick and missing out on the college experience at times. Seeing snapchats, Instagrams, and Facebook posts of everything going on back in Ohio knowing there is fun being had and memories being made without you can take its toll. Not to mention the fact there’s no way for me to fill my Buckeye Doughnuts and Sicilia’s Pizza cravings. To me, mental health and a great mindset is extremely important to success and while I’ve had so many positives here already, I’ve also had my fair share of negatives missing Columbus, Ohio State, and most importantly my friends from school. But by letting these negatives take control of your life, not only are you making it harder on yourself to excel in D.C., you are also missing so many great things pass you by! That’s why for my first blog post and the first of Fall WAIP 2017, I think there is no better way to kick things off than to share my five ways to deal with feeling homesick here in D.C.

1.     Surround yourself with Buckeyes

There is nothing worse than feeling homesick while at the same time feeling alone. That’s why it’s so great that WAIP allows you to live in D.C. with fellow Buckeyes, and why it’s so important to utilize this. Being able to talk with and relate to other Ohio State students about campus life, classes, social life, and football prevents you from keeping all your feelings about Ohio State and Columbus bottled up inside. But why stop at just sharing with your WAIP cohort? Ohio State alumni are everywhere and this cannot be more prevalent than in D.C. Take advantage of the fact there are so many alumni at policy salons, as they were in your shoes not too long ago and probably had the same feelings about missing Columbus and Ohio State. If your office has Ohio State alumni, take advantage of that as well. My supervisor is a recent graduate of Ohio State and every week we’ve talked about things like upcoming football games, the best food on High Street (hint: it’s Buckeye Doughnuts and Sicilia’s), and club sports. All of these alumni understand how hard it is moving to a new city, and the last thing they want is for you to feel out of place.

2.     Always plan to do something for the football game

As expected in the fall, Saturdays are the days where feeling homesick is the worst. Knowing that all of campus is having a great time tailgating and watching Ohio State win while you’re 400 miles away can eat away at you, it’s how I felt for the first home game of the season. That’s why it’s necessary to make sure you have plans for watching the game, because if you can’t be there in person the next best thing is watching on TV with others. For the first three games, my plans have ranged from forming a group to go to a watch party at Solly’s, an Ohio State bar, to ordering pizza and watching together in one of the apartments. While most of the time WAIP can feel like a glimpse of life after college, it is moments like watching football games that help remind me I am still an Ohio State student who has time left on campus. This helps keep me grounded and driven during the grind that is work, class, and policy salons.

3. Don't Sit Around
One of the worst things you can possibly do when you’re feeling sad and homesick is sit around and let these feelings overtake you. One of the best parts about WAIP is it provides you with the unique opportunity of having the National Mall as your backyard; if you’re missing home all you need to do is go for a walk and you’ll be reminded how great it is to be here in D.C. Another great thing is there is always something going on in this city and always something to do if you just get out and look. One of the most recent times I was feeling some type of way, me and my roommates went to the Smithsonian Postal Museum. Although some people might think you can only learn so much about the mail, there were what seemed like endless collections and great photo ops for your social media game. While it can be tempting to curl up in a blanket and watch Netflix when you’re homesick, you’re just putting off those feelings until later. Getting out and exploring lets you replace those feelings of being homesick with feelings of excitement and adventure.

A mail carriage from the Smithsonian U.S. Postal Museum

4. Keep in touch with friends

Second only to your parents, your friends will be your biggest support group while here in D.C. Similar to surrounding yourself with Buckeyes, keeping in touch with your friends will give you another outlet to talk about Ohio State, missing campus, and any other issues going on. Not only that, but friends won’t hesitate to dish out words of encouragement to keep you going. One of the times that will stick with me is when one of my fraternity brothers who I consider one of my best friends called me during the middle of their chapter meeting. He put the phone on speaker and I heard everyone shouting hello and then he said, “We miss you buddy but we’re proud of you”. After hearing something like that you can't help but feel empowered and motivated to take the world by storm. Another instance happened when I facetimed my friend one night from the steps of the Supreme Court, you know, since it’s basically my back porch. As I was telling her about everything that I’ve done since coming here I could feel how excited she was for me, and I could feel all my homesickness disappearing. Before this semester, I was terrible at keeping in touch with friends who were not in close proximity to me. Being here in D.C. now, I cannot stress enough how important it has been to talk with friends on a daily and weekly basis.

5. Plan a visit

The last thing to do when feeling homesick is to take the initiative and plan a trip back to visit! Having the weekends free during WAIP is great for a multitude of reasons, one being it allows you to travel. Taking a weekend to go back and visit Ohio State, especially a football weekend, is a great way to cure your homesickness, give yourself a breather from the fast-paced D.C. life, and see all the people you have kept in touch with over the semester. Even if the trip back won’t be until November, it gives yourself something to look forward to and another motivator to get through the rough patches. Another alternative to going back to visit Ohio State is to have your friends from Ohio State visit you! Bringing a little bit of Ohio State to D.C. can help make the city feel more like home and there is nothing better than showing your friends all the cool activities you’ve done here. Just like if your Ohio State visit is far enough out in advance, if your friend isn’t visiting for a while it gives you something to look forward to.

It’s very natural to miss Ohio State and Columbus while here in D.C. However, letting these feelings consume you and affect your time here will only cause unwanted stress and a decrease in performance at work. By using these five strategies, I have been able to successfully navigate the growing pains of the first four weeks in a new city while also setting myself up for future success in dealing with these problems.