Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

Picture this: It is a Sunday evening, and you are lying on the couch at home with your family. You just got home from catching up with your old friends, and a family-favorite movie plays on the TV while the aroma of a home-cooked dinner crowds your nose. Sounds great, right? Well, just remember that this image is almost a reality.

The first two months of college are filled with excitement about meeting new people, gaining independence, making connections and honoring academic successes. By the time parents weekend comes around, most are ready to see their family and become a little less independent for a while. But once the weekend ends, that month in between parents weekend and fall break feels like an eternity. 

Specifically for first-year students, by this time of the semester, everyone has settled into their classes, is comfortable with friends and is used to their new life. But this is also the time of year when homesickness begins to kick in. For a lot of people, no one has gone home in three and a half months, and every minute that goes by subtracts from the countdown to return home. 

“In college, specifically the first year, you never truly get alone time to relax and reset. Or conversely, maybe you don’t socialize much in college either because you are an introvert or because you haven’t found those people to socialize with yet. Back home, sometimes it is easier to be both an introvert and an extrovert.”

No one talks about how lonely the first semester of college can be. Sometimes, this feeling of isolation lingers above you like a rain cloud. Sure, there is a whole bunch of excitement that comes with beginning college: meeting new people, participating in new activities and beginning your career journey. But it is all completely unfamiliar. The absence of comfort that accompanies sitting on the living room couch, chatting with people who know everything about you, begins to dominate your mind. 

College is a continuous game of charades, as you essentially have to guess which kinds of people you surround yourself with. You have to grab a couple of impressions of your potential friends and hope it works out in the end — an immensely scary endeavor. 

Having a roommate, going to classes and eating at the dining hall come with exhaustion because you are socializing 100% of the time. In college, specifically the first year, you never truly get alone time to relax and reset. Or conversely, maybe you don’t socialize much in college either because you are an introvert or because you haven’t found those people to socialize with yet. Back home, sometimes it is easier to be both an introvert and an extrovert.

As an introvert, you can hang out alone in your house without feeling the pressure to go out all the time. And as an extrovert, it can be easier to be a social butterfly at home because it is likely you have known the people you are engaging with for a good chunk of your life. 

Learning to go every day without the people who bring you a sense of security is mentally toilsome. It makes you question a myriad of things and can take a major toll on your mental health. It is probable that during the first semester of college, you might not make deep connections with people. And you may struggle to find the beauty within college as the sense of unfamiliarity still loiters. But it will get better. Each day should start to feel more and more comfortable as you develop a sense of stability at college.

Personally, as a first-year student at Colorado State University, I am counting down the days until fall break. It will be my first time home since move-in, and I certainly could not hold any more excitement. I just want to hang out with my hometown friends and pet my cat. I know it will feel luxurious to sleep in my bed and take a shower in my own bathroom. 

I know times can be weary, but fall break will be the perfect refresh for those who are experiencing homesickness, and with winter break right around the corner, the homesickness should vanish, and you will likely be thrilled to return in January.