Homesickness is a nearly universal phenomenon, but many times it is an ailment that can be trivialized and simply wrote off as something that will pass with time.

Though this is sometimes true, many who suffer from homesickness need help to relieve themselves of the day-to-day drudgery that is living away from those you miss and love. That is why this year Shippensburg University began a program called Home@Ship that aims to help those who are homesick break out of their depression and finally feel at home.

It started with Denise Yarwood, interim Assistan dean for the school of academic programs and services, who found that during her experience interviewing students who are considering withdrawing from SU, one reason consistently came up-— homesickness.

“When I was [teaching] in psychology, homesickness actually was one of my research interests,” Yarwood said, when talking about what drew her to the issue. “We found that some students just really weren’t connecting, and then they leave.”

So Yarwood decided to team up with licensed psychologist and chair of the department of counseling services Michele Olexa to create Home@Ship, a program they hoped would not only help retain these students, but help they find a place that they fit in.

“It really came out of a desire to have a group for people who are homesick, lonely or maybe not feeling connected here,” Olexa said.

The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics defines homesickness as distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home and attachment objects such as parents. That means that every college student that lives at school has a chance of experiencing some level of homesickness, no matter who they are.

“Certainly every individual is dealing with an adjustment to the university, adjustment to new people, dealing with depression, anxiety and even more serious things,” Olexa said.

“One of the things that I found is whether you have come across the ocean, like I have, or whether you have moved two hours away from home, homesickness feels the same,” Yarwood said.

Yarwood said homesickness is a very common cause of poor academic performance. Others get in such a funk that that they no longer connect with other people and instead spend their time missing their old lifestyle. A main inspiration for creating Home@Ship was to help students realize they are not the only ones suffering from homesickness, according to Yarwood.

Olexa said one of her interests is how animal therapy can often have a positive effect on students going through these issues. Olexa brings in a therapy dog to Home@Ship sponsored events to help relieve some of the anxiety that students feel.

“My interest is that almost everyone tells us that they come for the dogs,” Olexa said, speaking of students’ feedback. “It’s interesting how people are less socially anxious among animals.

“We are hoping to build a culture around this, where more and more people come.”

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