“The meaning of homesick is longing for home and family while absent from them.”
– Merriam-Webster Dictionary
While living away from home on our boarding school campus, you will enjoy independence and gain a greater sense of who you are as you prepare for college and life beyond. For that reason alone,, give yourself credit for being so courageous and resilient to live away from home during middle school and/or high school.
In fact, you may not realize this, but according to the U.S. News and World Report, there are only about 35,000 boarding school students in the United States, and even a much smaller number of students attending military boarding schools.
Here are some tips to avoid getting homesick:
Get Involved
- Try new clubs every semester to mix up social groups and keep your mind off home. Check out the variety of clubs available at Army and Navy. .
- Explore new sports to test your athletic skills and keep your mind focused on things besides your hometown family and friends. Check out our ANA athletics program.
- Venture beyond the borders of our beachfront campus to explore our local Carlsbad Village and various happenings in San Diego county. Check out our fun and educational weekend activities.
- Aspire and become a leader so you can mentor and guide others when they feel homesick. When you’re in a leadership role, this helps you empathize with other students and will also make you feel more at home.
Establish a Routine
- Follow the daily schedule at Army Navy to combat homesickness. Staying active and engaged by sticking to a routine and daily schedule provides structure and motivation to achieve your goals and not be distracted.
- Balance your days while attending our boarding school by doing a combination of mental, social, physical activities. At the end of each day, think about how you created life balance and what made the day special.
- Take time to reflect on a daily basis and don’t miss the sunsets on the beach to restore, relax, and ease any anxiety.
Stay in Touch with Loved Ones
- Call your family at a specific time on a daily or weekly basis. Having something to look forward to helps you to stay in touch and feel close to your parents/guardians and siblings.
- Ask your family to visit campus for events, games and happenings. This will help you deal directly with homesickness and provide support.
- Send letters or emails to family and friends to stay in touch and enjoy catching up by sharing academic, athletic, and campus life highlights.
- Use texts for quick updates or photo shares to keep your family present in your life and aware of your many achievements and fun experiences.
Make Friends and Grow Your Network
- On campus, make new friends by eating meals with different people or hanging out with them down at the beach, in the recreation hall, makerspace or enrichment center.
- Do enjoyable and challenging things off campus with your roommate and fellow students such as: walking into the village and going on trips together.
- Find new friends by participating in sports during every season. This will expand your relationships with teammates, coaches and help you make new friends.
- Choose clubs that excite you so you can meet people based on mutual interests. This is an easy way to form new friendships.
Tips for Parents to Help with Homesickness
- Tell your parents not to worry or come to the rescue everytime you share something you’re going through.
- Ask your parents to schedule calls with you to avoid interrupting your activities and daily schedule.
- Encourage your parents to read school newsletters and follow social media so they can see all the adventures you are experiencing on and off campus. .
- Ask your parents to send you letters and care packages with things you might enjoy hearing about or receiving.
- Tell your parents to share recipes with the school chef so you don’t miss some of your favorite meals.
- Ask your parents if you can bring a friend or your roommate home on a weekend or during holidays, so they get to know your friends.
- Review the Family Resources website page so your family has key phone numbers, links to social media and other forms of campus communications.
ANA Support:
- TACs (teacher/advisor/counselors) are here to help you with everything after school and during dorm life. They will mentor and guide you to adhere to the honor code, to act like a leader, and show you how to take good care of yourself (e.g. hygiene, dress, manners, fitness, nutrition, decision-making).
- Faculty interactions will help you achieve your goals, so seek out teachers during the After school Tutorial and Evening Office Hours. They will help you achieve your academic and college matriculation goals.
- Coaches are great mentors and guides to help you improve your health, fitness and get into colleges of your choice. Seek out their guidance and they will help you aim high and even get athletic awards and scholarships.
- Administrators and counselors care about every student and can be contacted for personal appointments to discuss any academic, social or emotional topics or issues on your mind.
- Peer Mentoring Programs are perfect for students who want peer support and guidance. They will empathize because they are students too and share your experience.
- Campus services also include our health center where you can go
Remember, you alone have the ability to control how long homesickness lasts. By getting involved, establishing a routine, staying in touch with loved ones, and making new friends, you will fully enjoy the adventure of living away from home while attending Army and Navy Academy.
Know Someone Interested in Exploring Army and Navy Academy? Located on a beachfront campus in Southern California’s Carlsbad Village, Army and Navy Academy is a college preparatory school with boarding and day options.
Geared exclusively for boys in grades 7-12, we are a model school for boys in middle school and high school and are ranked in the top five boarding schools in California.
Admission Office Phone: 888-762-2338
Resources:
How to Deal with Homesickness at Boarding School
Health and Safety are Chief Priorities at Army and Navy Academy