When you’re studying overseas, it’s normal to feel a bit stressed or homesick once in a very while.
It’s common for international students to feel anxious when managing a totally new lifestyle, academic demands, financial difficulties, pressures of balancing work and study commitments, and relationship issues. Sometimes, you may feel you wish a touch of additional help – and that’s okay.
International students are at the next risk of facing stress thanks to extra challenges faced by them while living abroad, a research conducted by Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer finds out.
With that in mind – let’s discuss stress and the way to address it!
Common stressors faced by international students
International students were interviewed about the typical transitional stresses they faced whilst adjusting to life in their new study home and plenty of of those apply to all or any study destinations:
Culture shock and off-campus living pressures
Upon arrival, international students face ‘culture shock’ and a string of recent responsibilities – including navigating language barriers, looking for accommodation, finding housemates, paying rent, learning to manage a household – to not mention studying!
Students even have initial worries about West Germanic language barriers when making friends, voicing opinions during group assignments, and/or utilizing professional health-care services (due to fears about miscommunication).
Financial and academic pressures
Additionally to the financial pressures of budgeting and handling household finances, international students must accommodate unfamiliar academic environments, study styles, and course structures. Some students – especially those receiving backing from home – reported feeling intense pressure to succeed or achieve academically whilst studying abroad. Students who reported feeling their academic work was ‘below expectation’ experienced higher levels of hysteria and depression (Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer), leading to poorer academic performance.
Homesickness
Some students may experience homesickness some days after arriving at their new home and for others, it’s going to take some weeks. After all, moving from a well-known environment to a very new place can seem quite challenging. Feeling homesick is common and should involve experiencing:
- Low mood
- Anxiousness
- Feeling unmotivated
- Feeling you do not belong
- Generally feeling unwell
- Pre-occupation with thoughts of home
- Nothing feeling familiar
- Feeling like your new life doesn’t meet your expectations
- Feeling alone and lonely
If you identify with any of those stressors, here’s how you’ll be able to handle them effectively.
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1. Stay well-connected in your host country
Swap stories with other international students sharing similar experiences or even build your local support network. You’ll even be ready to find lots of scholars from Nepal and nearby countries studying in and around your city, catch up with them. Use social networking sites/apps to search out international student groups, or people in your city who share similar hobbies.
2. Reach bent friends, family, and/or personal support networks
Talk to someone close and trusted. Try:
- Scheduling weekly/monthly Skype sessions with family or friends
- Traveling and sending postcards back home
- Writing emails or letters
- Sending text messages or 해외문자발송 in Hangul
- Switching off social media for ages
- Joining student communities
- Keeping a busy schedule
- Meeting new people
- Be hospitable to new experiences
- Travel and explore with new friends
3. Exercise regularly, eat healthy and appearance after yourself
Poor eating habits and sleep deprivation are additionally known to trigger stress. So, eat nutritious meals and rest well. Try cooking your meals at reception rather than eating out often or binging on takeaway food. Exercise improves both physical and mental states. Make sure that you stay active by going for a walk/run, swim or figuring out within the gym. Meditation, yoga, and deep breathing exercises may facilitate your stay calm and composed.
4. Get to grasp your new city
Make a shot to urge you to understand your new surroundings and what’s happening in your host city. Familiarising yourself will facilitate your feel more connected and less like an outsider. If you were involved in a very club/church/group back home, then determine what your new neighborhood must offer.
Research a touch about where you’re living and find some places you ought to explore –- the most effective coffee shops within the city, favorite locations for local road artists, or all the various places you’ll be able to go hiking. Make an inventory of those places or activities and challenge yourself to do/see all of them before you allow.
5. Get a pet
Your body releases happy hormones and keeps you positive when you have a pet around. Studies have shown that your stress levels can decrease and your mood be uplifted significantly when you spend time with a pet. If your university or landlord doesn’t allow you to stay one, you’ll be able to go and spend time with domestic students who have one.
6. See others about how you’re feeling
There’s no shame in being homesick. It happens to almost everyone. Seek help from knowledgeable if you are feeling the necessity for extra support to figure through your stress. A variety of people and organizations provide support for people experiencing psychological state concerns. You may also reach resolute your university’s student support center that always has specialists like counselors and advisers who can facilitate your management of stress.
7. Vent and express your feelings
If you’re too shy to specific your feeling to anyone, start keeping a journal and vent it all out. You will write poems, stories, or perhaps bask in creative art forms like a painting to specify yourself.
