by Marijane Suttor

Created on: August 04, 2009   Last Updated: June 20, 2010

The image of college life is enveloped with thoughts of lots of friends and the pursuit of academic dreams. For some college freshmen there might also be a healthy dose of homesickness too. A certain amount of homesickness is normal, but if it makes a college student feel like packing up the car and running for home, the student could use a little bit of help. These are some things that a college students can do to combat homesickness.

Don't call home too often

One of the most common mistakes that new college students make, who are away from home for the first time, is to call home too often or have parents calling them too often. Try to leave the phone calls home to a minimum. One phone call per week is appropriate unless there is something specific that the parent and child need to discuss. By calling home everyday there is a greater likelihood of feeling homesick. Parents who mean well say they miss the child and often refer to the pets missing them too. By keeping the phone calls to a minimum, it avoids those conversations that will make a college student lonely for home.

Stay at school for one month

Students who go home early on tend to be the students that end up being homesick more. It is better to really give college a one month trial period before going home on the weekends. Many of the fun activities are held on the weekend. These help build friendships and a sense of being comfortable at school. It is important to give the weekends a try for a few weeks otherwise the connection to friends at home is stronger.

Get out of the dorm room

Don't sit in the dorm isolated and feeling lonely. It doesn't matter the reason for leaving the dorm room. Any number of activities will fit the bill from jogging to going to the library. Sitting in the dorm is probably the place where homesickness will set in because a dorm room is not like living at home.

Have parents send a care package

A care package from home can be a real day brightener. This has the opposite effect of phone calls and trips home. Instead it allows the student to have a little bit of home at school. Receiving a box of homemade cookies can be a great taste of home while offering them to dorm mates can help encourage friendships.

Facebook/My Space/Skype

Using the Internet's social networking sites can be a great way to stay in touch with home without having too much contact. Believe it or not, this is the time to encourage parents to make their own page and to get up with the times. They can keep

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