The Charlotte Observer – Lee Bierer
“Longing for the comforts of home when everything is new and different isn’t surprising, but the depth of homesickness among students on college campuses appears to be rising. According to Christopher Thurber, a psychologist at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in Exeter, N.H., “about 20 percent of students entering college say they’re bothered by missing home, and about 5 percent have homesickness so severe that it interferes with their daily lives or causes significant symptoms of anxiety or depression.” My niece, a freshman at Elon University, said she finds the transitions – heading home and returning to campus – are the hardest for her. And she has had a bunch this fall. First, there’s the big drop-off in late August. Then, in varying order, there’s Parents’ Weekend and fall break, when family members come to campus and then students head home. And then it seems, as quickly as the leaves turn, it’s suddenly Thanksgiving and there’s another visit home. After that time off, students return to campus for sometimes as little as two weeks before they head home again for Christmas break.”(more)