Adjusting to Distance

By Hailey Kay, Sponsorship Director

When I was younger, I worked at summer camps where little kids would sometimes get homesick. It was unfamiliar to me. I went to overnight camp, was comfortable being independent, and couldn’t understand how anyone felt homesick after only a few hours away.

However, as I've gotten older, the feeling has crept in. When I started my first internship in Toronto, away from my hometown, the excitement of a new job, people, and city distracted me at first. By the summer, I realized how much I had taken living at home and seeing family for granted. I also started to realize that once you begin work in another city, especially one like Toronto, it's very difficult to “go back”, and therefore I couldn't see a near future moving back home. This inevitability of long-term separation from my family heightened the sense of homesickness I dreaded, and I finally empathized with the little kids from camp who begged me to call their parents to pick them up.

Similarly, during my exchange semester, it is an amazing opportunity to discover new places, friends, and culture, but a prominent aspect that is not as widely discussed is the homesickness that creeps in. While I have begun to realize that it is a natural feeling that is justified, I do believe that many other exchange students at Queen’s also experience homesickness when abroad.

I wanted to share my experiences of living and studying away from home to show that missing friends and family is completely natural. Ultimately, I’m still figuring out the routines and small habits that make the distance feel lighter.