Ivy Years

A while back, I was applying to be an International Student Admissions Ambassador. I promptly forgot about my application after I sent it off, but came across it again today.  One of the questions was “do you feel homesick at all? How do international students cope with homesickness?” Here’s my (somewhat dramatized) response. I’ll explain why I’m posting it later.

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I had been looking out the small window of the dingy commuter plane for about 45 minutes. Below me, neat plots of farmland stretched as far as the eye could see, cut off occasionally by winding streams. Surely we must be getting closer, I thought. As if the land below had read my mind, the faint outlines of the Cornell campus appeared. I could immediately see West Campus, and ventured an educated guess as to which one Flora Rose House is. I ticked off the other landmarks in my head: Arts Quad, Ives Hall, Schoellkopf Field… For a new Cornellian who has never set foot in New York state, this was quite a feat. The explanation? I had been staring at a Google Map of version of these for maybe months!

At that moment when my plane circled over Ithaca, I knew I was going to love this place and cast whatever disappointments in my past life behind me. I attended pre-orientation, moved in, shopped for textbooks, partied (in university-sponsored, non-alcoholic venues mind you), and proclaimed to anyone who would listen just how much I loved this place.

A week later, after I casually Skyped with my parents one night, I went to bed and sobbed for a good ten minutes. I suddenly missed home, missed my mum’s cooking, missed my friends, missed my old school, missed Canada. For the longest time I believed whatever differences that existed between Americans and Canadians were minuscule and could be easily overlooked. But physically being here in the great U. S. of A frustrated me for a while. Fahrenheit made no sense. I insisted putting a “u” in “colour” and “labour”. I didn’t know where Long Island was* and it seemed that everyone in ILR was from there.

The point of the story is that international students, even Canadians like me who can pass as Americans, get homesick, let alone those from another continent or another language background. Expect it but do not dwell on it. I learned that it doesn’t matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, as long as we can come to grips with who we are and maintain our beliefs, values, and happiness, we will not disappoint ourselves. Find like-minded people but at the same time be open to new things. Seek out support networks and talk to counselors. Play to your strength. As cliche as it sounds, embrace diversity. We’re in this together.

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I had forgotten about the emotional rollercoaster that was those first few weeks here. One reason this little piece is important to me because it captured that moment in time, as blog entries usually do. Hopefully this is more motivation for me to start blogging again.

* Yes, I figured out where Long Island is. I now also have half the counties in New York state memorized because I deal with locations so much at work.