Somewhere in your mind you know that you’ll miss your friends and family after you get on that plane and head to start this new journey. But no one ever really warns us for how lonely this journey gets at times. We put that brave face on and head out. Then we plant that fake smile the first day of class hoping we’ll pick up a new friend to help us survive the semester ahead. It’s all a facade to be honest because we’re all scared and anxious but yet excited to begin this new chapter. Then there’s a tinge of guilt you get for being excited about what’s ahead because somehow it’s correlated to being glad to leave everything else behind. That’s not the case at all; when I moved I wished I could pack my closest friend and family and either take them with me or press pause on their lives but that’s not quite possible. Sometimes it may feel as though you’re missing out on everything and honestly you will be. But during these times I usually just try to remind myself that in a few years because I missed my friends baby or wedding announcements I’ll be in or closer to being in the position I want to attain. The hardest part however comes when a love one gets sick or passes away and you’re not there. For me that’s my gran but then I thought about the look she had of pure joy and pride when she told any and everyone that I was in school to be a nurse. Knowing that I was able to make her proud and how much more it would have been now that I graduated makes it a little easier.

I’m at my third school in the US and one new start hasn’t been easier than the next but it has become a routine. One of the things  that suck with new classes is when I’m stuck with an assignment I don’t have any classmates to lean on because I don’t know any of them. Unless you live on campus, or in a club or go out of your way, you have no friends at school (this is not always true if you have a class 3-4 days a week with the same people). Which extends the to having no friends outside of class either because you’re new to the area. Become a social butterfly, introduce yourself to that person that caught your attention you never know that guy standing in front of you at the coffee shop may become your best friend all because you started a conversation.

At the end of the day yes it gets lonely and discouraging sometimes but remember you aren’t the first or the last international student to feel like this. We’ve all cried and said we wanted to go back home at some point. DON’T. All those tears, feeling alone (even though you really aren’t) really do pay off eventually. I thank God every day for my mom, family and friends back at home. They keep me sane, they encourage me to do things that sometimes I don’t even think I could do on my own and let’s not talk about the amount of times I’ve had a 3-4 man team up helping with assignments at ungodly hours. And they never complain (I love and appreciate you guys).

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! This post is a little different but one that I felt needed to be made. This is my first Christmas away from any type of family and I’m really missing home but I really want to thank my mom and Akela (my best friend) for encouraging me to write this one for you guys.