Picture this: it’s week six, suddenly you have three essays due, your boss is asking you to cover your co-worker’s 10-hour shift (because they, too, have fallen victim to the annual, deadly October flu), and the sun hasn’t been spotted in weeks. It’s never-ending, and you could quite literally scream. But you don’t. Instead, you spend the evening scanning Trainline before spending a small fortune on a seven-hour train ride home, all with the hopes of a well-cooked roast dinner greeting you on the other side.
It is no secret that university is one of the most daunting experiences in your life; settling in is a mounting challenge that often doesn’t crystallise for months. Additionally, once the novelty of freshers’ week and a new term is over, university life tends to calm down, and within such quietude, anxiety begins to creep in. Whether this is imposter syndrome, homesickness, or culture shock, the mid-semester slump is a very real phenomenon that drives students back home.
University FOMO is often well documented, but little is said about FOMO back home. Many students may criticise the frequent travels home, but the truth is holiday traditions, friends’ birthdays, and family parties, all once staples of our social calendar throughout high school, can be hard to part with. Undeniably, part of the allure of attending university centres around the plethora of new life experiences and relationships. But being present and maintaining those back home as well is equally important –something we can often neglect in the hectic first few weeks of university.
Additionally, a change of scenery genuinely does wonders. The eventual humdrum of university life can feel suffocating, and returning home, for many of us, back to the countryside, can provide a well-welcomed getaway. The quaint normality found in misty evening dog walks, hearty home-cooked comfort meals, or curling up in front of the fire acts as a means of slowing oneself down and allowing oneself the chance to breathe away from the business of Edinburgh.
However, it’s often only a few days later when you realise why you also booked that return ticket; screaming matches with your sister, awkward run-ins at the pub, and your mum’s lasagna isn’t actually the delicacy you remembered. Being back home is by no means a saviour to all your worries, nor should it be criticised. Maintaining a healthy university-home balance is an important facet of adjusting to university that can keep us grounded and stable throughout our time here at Edinburgh. It often provides much-needed short bursts of respite, a calm constant in what is often a very hectic experience.
Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash