How can I stop feeling homesick?

A reader writes:

"I'm homesick and it's only my second week back in the dorms! I have friends here and I have plenty to do (and will have plenty of work this semester) but now when it's quiet and I'm just browsing the internet, I just wish I was back at home. It's even worse than the beginning of the school year and I don't know why. How can I stop feeling so homesick?"

Feeling homesick is a natural part of being away from the family, friends, and community you are used to and many first generation and low income college students feel the pangs of homesickness at some point. Here are a few ways you can help reduce feeling homesick:

Change your mindset. When you're missing home, it is really easy to think of all the things you are leaving behind, but don't give in to this impulse. Instead, think of what you're gaining instead of what you're missing.

Make plans. Try to keep your mind on the future instead of lingering to the past by making plans to hang out with friends. Also, consider getting involved with a student club or organization or volunteering in addition to quality time with your friends.

Talk to someone. Sharing your feelings of homesickness with a friend, advisor, or professional counselor is another way you can help reduce those feelings. Remember, you're not crazy if you seek out professional help.

Keep in touch. Of course, you should stay in contact with your friends and family, but not too much. Being in constant communication with home will actually intensify your homesickness, so limit yourself. If you find yourself getting really emotional during or after phone calls, try sticking to texts and emails instead.

Decorate your space. Making your surroundings as comfortable, welcoming, and personal as possible can go a long way in helping you feel at home in your new space.

These tips can help you start feeling better about being away from home!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Rate My Professors: Use with caution

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are that you have heard of Rate My Professors. If not, it's a website that lets you search, read, and write reviews about professors at your college. Professors can be reviewed for their overall quality of their teaching, helpfulness, clarity, and how easy their classes are. You can even review if professors are hot.

This may seem like an awesome tool for first generation and low income college students when it comes to class selection. I know some students who swear by Rate My Professors and will try to take classes with only highly rated professors, the easiest professors, or the hottest professors.

Photo credit: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/

But, if you choose to use this website, make sure you use Rate My Professors with caution. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using Rate My Professors or other similar websites or services:

Don't be a sheep. One thing you should always be wary of as a college student is information. Make sure that you consider how credible the source is and think about it critically instead of accepting the reviews as absolute truth.

Where is it coming from? Think about who is likely to write reviews. Students who really hated or really loved a particular professor are more likely to post comments than students who weren't strongly swayed one way or the other. Also, students who are disappointed with their grades and don't take ownership of their grades are more likely to leave negative reviews.

Everyone is different. What some students finds difficult can come easily for other students, so take others' recommendations with a grain of salt. Just because a bunch of students think a professor is easy or hard doesn't mean you will think the same thing.

Is there a match? Sometimes its a matter of professors' teaching styles versus students' learning styles. If they don't match, students tend to rate professors negatively. Whether or not you would succeed in a professor's class is about how well your learning style matches the professor's teaching style, not how well the professor's style matches other students.

Look for specifics. Vague reviews like "This dude sux!!!!!" or "I wish he was my grandpa." are not actually that helpful to you. Make sure you look for specific ways that the professor may or may not be a good fit for you. A review like "He tends to be a little hard on his students though, and the midterm scores are usually pretty low, so try your best. Otherwise he is very willing to help, is great at explaining material, and encourages you to think for yourself and practice lots of problems" can give you a much better idea about what the professor would actually be like in class.

Don't just crunch numbers. The ratings can seem useful at first glance, but chances are that you will gain more useful information from also reading the reviews. Sometimes you'll see a highly rated professor with lousy write-ups and vice versa, so don't just rely on one source.

More than meets the eye. If all you are looking for is a hot professor, I suspect your grades aren't as strong as they could be. Plus, most of the "hot" professors do not have pictures posted to back up the review. It can be nice to have an eye-candy worthy professor, as long as it doesn't distract you from your job as a student.

So, there you have it. Rate My Professors can be a useful tool, but only when you use it with caution.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Don't use the "singular they" in college papers

Read this sentence: Using the resources available to them is important for any first generation or low income college student who feels they need extra support to succeed at their college.

Do you see the grammatical error in the above sentence? The grammar mistake is using them, they, and their to refer to only one person, known as the "singular they" by grammar snobs. Now, I am by no means a grammar expert, but this is something you should avoid doing in college-level work.

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The singular they is common in everyday use, especially when trying to be gender-neutral or avoiding the clunky "his or her/he or she," but that doesn't make it okay for your essays and research papers. Instead, tweak your sentence to use a plural or "his or her/he or she" to make your sentence grammatically correct with better flow.

Tweaking the sentence above, "Using the resources available to first generation or low income college students who feel they need extra support to succeed at their college is important" or "Using the resources available to a first generation or low income college student who feels he or she needs extra support to succeed at his or her college is important" might be better options. Getting rid of any singular they in your writing is something you should look for when proofreading.

Some professors will be sticklers for this type of thing and others won't care. Either way, you should get into the habit of avoiding the singular they in college-level work.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.