The air is crisp, the dorms are abuzz with “I’m going home!” and my suitemate and I are—feverish. Literally.

What started off as the both of us coughing slightly like dainty ladies a week ago has morphed into some kind of psycho illness that left me hacking and feverish, making me miss a.) Kelly Cutrone giving an inspirational speech during this leadership workshop I was supposed to attend and b.) A sikk (but not sick like me) tailgate before the Yale-Princeton game.

Here’s my question: Why isn’t Mommy here to deliver me ice water and bring me up dinner from the kitchen to my room? Answer: Because I’m a freaking adult now! And I need to suck it up! Or else I’ll turn into, like, Lindsay Lohan or something and wallow in my own existence until bodyguards come and carry me everywhere I need to be.

So as a mature woman (pah, let’s be honest), I have been attempting to take care of myself as best as possible. After getting the whining, calls to my mother for some much needed sympathy and more whining, of course. I have been sleeping. I have been stealing grapefruit and oranges like crazy from the dining halls. I have been drinking lots of water (clear pee is the goal, you guys). I have been skipping class (…I don’t wanna infect other people).

And none of it is really helping.

The one thing that I found that is true is this: my illnesses last longer in college. And I think this has to do with the dining hall system vs. having a kitchen downstairs in your house where your mom makes food. The dining hall is a five minute trek in the cold away from my dorm room. That, in combination with the fact that it’s already dark outside, our dining halls have been serving excessive amounts of squash lately, and having a fever destroys your appetite, means that I have not been eating a lot. Which is good for my freshman fifteen, but terrible for the whole “getting healthy” thing.

It also doesn’t help that I’m in close (very close) quarters with another diseased person who keeps passing her germs to my side of the room. Part of me wants to Clorox the room every day…but a bigger and sicker part of me doesn’t want to get out of bed and muster up the energy to do so.

Regardless of all that, I’m slowly healing. Painfully slowly.  The coughs are beginning to sound a little less morbid and now my voice is raspy, so I kind of sound like Miley Cyrus. And that’s pretty cool. Plus, I’m seeing my mom in 3 days, which should jump start this healing process instantaneously. She’s already promised to have the soup and movies ready, which means I’ll be healthy as an ox (no, I don’t get that cliche either) by the time Thanksgiving dinner rolls around.

Right now, I just want to go home and watch Desperate Housewives with my mom and not wear flip-flops in the shower! Ah, such are the woes of homesickness.

While this time is not as bad as the last time homesickness hit (sixth grade 3-day sleep away camp. . .never again), it certainly has taken its toll. Recently, I’ve found myself creeping through my high school albums on Facebook an unhealthy amount, as well as reading up on news from Cincinnati (my hometown) that I otherwise wouldn’t care about (apparently a fire halted production of a local potato chip company…).

I’m sure my lovely suitemates are already starting to get annoyed with my constant “I miss Ohio!” and variations of it — so what do I do to combat it?

It definitely helps to stay in touch with friends from back home. Because Thanksgiving break is so near, I know a lot of friends and I are already planning times to hang out over that week. We have happy coffee breaks, shopping trips and ole-fashioned sleepovers planned. It’s a nice, fuzzy feeling to realize that you have things to look forward to and people to meet up with when you go back.

Also, I’ve found it helps to call my mom sometimes. She helps on two levels: First, she happily agrees to cook my carefully selected menu for the week I’m home—nothing beats Mom’s Chinese dumplings. But perhaps more importantly, she fills me in on the fact that absolutely nothing is happening back at home. None of my friends are in town and the weather is just as cold there as it is here. My car is still sitting idle in our driveway and the kids who still go to high school still have to wake up at 6 in the morning to catch the bus.

I feel like sometimes, when I’m homesick, the idea of home and the past takes on this happy golden glow that seems irresistible, when, in reality, life at home is considerably less magnetic. Yeah, home will always offer delicious food and a bedroom all to myself, but it’s not quite the same. My high school friends and I have already taken a step away from that, and they were an inherent part of what made home feel so good. Sometimes, I just have to tell myself that I’m longing for something that isn’t actually there anymore, it’s just a time period that’s already passed.

Regardless, going back for break will be wonderful—I’ll get to see friends and live a week in the life of my old self, enjoying home and curing my homesickness. But probably the cure will be in seeing that life back at home isn’t quite the happy glow that I’m remembering.

This post provided by college nutritionist, author, and all around excellent source of healthful info, Melanie Jatsek.

Do you eat when you’re not hungry?  Sure, we all do to some degree!  Food is one of the necessities of life, but it’s also a source of comfort for those times when you are feeling sad, stressed, homesick, angry, or [insert emotion here].  This occasional indulgence usually isn’t a problem, but when you start responding to every emotion with food it becomes a problem in more than one way.  Can you say weight gain and feelings of zero willpower?  You did just eat that entire bag of Lay’s Potato Chips after all!

It’s time to stop beating yourself up.  So you slipped up and let your stress get the best of you – so what?  Forgive yourself and move on.  But what if it happens again, you ask?  What are you supposed to do the next time you are struck with a bout of good old-fashioned homesickness?

Follow the three steps below to learn how not to eat your feelings.

Step 1:  Ask yourself:  “Am I hungry?”

Sounds like a silly question doesn’t it?  You have to be able to identify if you are eating in response to true hunger (a grumbling stomach) or “head hunger” (emotional eating).  Sometimes it’s not that easy to figure out.  If you’re having difficulty making the determination, imagine your stomach is like the tank of gas in your car.  A gas tank goes from “empty” to “full” right?  Now, picture your stomach with a gauge connected to it that moves from empty to full as you feed it.  Better yet, pretend it goes from 0 to 10.  See the scale below to help you visualize this concept:

0      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9      10

At level “0” or “empty,” you are coasting on fumes.  Your stomach is the size of your fist.  You have never been hungrier and you lack any ounce of mental or physical energy.  Read a chapter for class?  Forget that!  You can’t even focus on the television.  You need food fast!

Level “5” is “halfway,” or the mid point on your gas gauge.  You don’t feel hungry but you also don’t feel full.  This is considered “satisfied.”  I’ve never conducted an official study, but I would be willing to bet money that most college students eat beyond the level of “satisfied” and don’t even realize it.  Physical energy and mental focus are at their peak at this level, so it’s important to understand what this feels like and strive for it.  Could you eat more at a level 5?  You bet!  In fact it’s pretty easy to do because you still have room left in your stomach and aren’t feeling uncomfortable yet.

At level “10” or “stuffed,” you are “topped off” and couldn’t eat another bite if someone paid you.  Your stomach at this level is about the size of a gallon of milk (really!).  Another way to describe level “10” is “Thanksgiving Day full.”  Read a chapter for class?  Forget that!  You can’t even keep your eyes open.  You need to take a nap!

True hunger is any number below a level “5.”

Step 2:  Pick your number

If you had to assign a number to your hunger or fullness, what would it be?  Are you almost satisfied (a level “4”)?  Are you feeling a bit uncomfortable (a level “7”)?  This step is very important because it forces you to stop and take notice when you’re turning towards food instead of tackling the unpleasant emotion before you, whatever it might be.

Step 3:  Find out what’s eating you

If you find yourself eating at any level above a 5 or 6, you need to determine why you are doing it.  To figure this out, keep a journal for 1 week and record the following information:

1. Everything you eat and drink.
2. Using the scale above, assign a number to your hunger/fullness before and after you eat.
3. Do you observe a pattern where you are eating even though you aren’t hungry?  If so, identify the reason and write it down.  Did something happen, causing you to turn to food for comfort?  Did you do poorly on an exam?  Are you stressed out about something?  Are you procrastinating writing that paper?  Are you sad or lonely?  Even if you’re not sure what the reason is, write something down!

Once you identify the source, it’s time to cope.  Find another outlet.  Sit with your feelings and really experience them.  You may still find yourself turning towards food for comfort even after you sit and experience your feelings.  That’s OK.  It’s what you are used to, so it’s going to take some time to break.  An effective strategy is to develop a new method of coping.  For example:  if you eat when you are stressed, stop and do 10 jumping jacks or push-ups.  Nothing tackles stress better than exercise.  It doesn’t have to require a trip to the student recreation center.  Think quick and effective.

The bottom line:  Eating in response to your emotions is taxing on the brain.  It’s an energy draining habit because you never get to the root of the problem.  Food never solves what’s really bugging you – ever! As uncomfortable as it may seem, the next time you find yourself battling the stresses of college life, instead of digging into that bag of M&M’s, start practicing your new coping skills.  The more you practice them, the sooner they will become your new habit.

Be patient with yourself and remember:  You can do this!

Melanie Jatsek is a speaker, author and registered dietitian who teaches college students how to eat to look better, feel better, think better and stress less!  Send her an email at melanie@melaniejatsek.com or connect with her on her new Facebook page for college students: “The Healthy Campus Project.”

I was one of those kids that never really got homesick when I was in college. While my friends would have occasional breakdowns and cry about not being with their families or their hometown friends, I never spent too much time dwelling on what I could have been missing at home – I was too busy doing everything else. But now, as a fully functioning member of real life, I think I’m suffering from my first adult case of homesickness.

Maybe it’s the advent of fall or just the general time of year – back to school – but everything just feels off. While everyone on the East coast is talking about the leaves starting to change, I’m anxiously awaiting for some kind of sign that a seasonal change is about to take place. While I’m looking to head back to school next year, Facebook is blowing up with status updates about first day of classes, professor quotes, and new discoveries out in the real world.

And as the world turns, well – I just feel like something is missing.

Despite running around like a chicken with its head cut off interning in Los Angeles and studying wayyyy more than I ever did in college for one little test known as the LSAT, I feel like what little downtime I have is making me feel like I’m missing something out there – but I can’t necessarily put my finger on it.

Yes, college is over. No more Solo cup littered lawns, boys in bowties for no reason, the dining hall’s Swedish meatballs, the anxious anticipation for traditions, and the engaging class discussions. It’s over, and I don’t really wish I could do it over again. So, what is this feeling? Maybe my body feels like I should be back in some hardwood floored dorm room watching the leaves fall onto the quad, and it hasn’t synched with my mind that certainly knows I don’t really want to be there.

Maybe I’m just waiting for something to happen. This whole LSAT process involves a lot of practice – a lot of constant build up. Since things are up in the air until my mailbox has admissions letters, maybe this feeling will stick around – and I should just accept it.  But boy, it’s making me homesick, and living out in California is one of the most interesting experiences. Some days, I feel like the luckiest person alive – living mere minutes from the beach. And then other days, I feel like I’m being swallowed by this soulless place.

Knowing this humors me though. The minute I go back home, whether it’s to live or to visit, I know I will be ready to leave again. To find something new.  Maybe everything I wanted was right in front of me throughout the last four years, and now everything I want is scattered across the United States – including myself.

All in all, this dilemma of homesickness and the feelings of something missing makes me think everything I’ve ever read about being a twenty-something is right: you really are always on the search for something, and there’s no one telling you how or when or where you’ll find it.

So maybe that’s what I’m homesick for – the certainty and routine that life in college can provide. Well, that and 3-day weekends. Those were nice.

It’s that time of year, when people start packing up their lives to fit into the ridiculously small storage closets they call dorm rooms.  For some of us, we will be heading back to familiar sights and sounds, having already navigated our way through a couple years of school.  For the rest of us, it will be the first time on campus and the start of a much-hyped period in your life: the college years.

There have been several books written to prepare incoming freshman for all the crazy shiz that will go down during their first year of school.  Their relatives, friends, guidance counselors and even complete strangers will also advise them on how to stay healthy in the cafeteria and how to sneak alcohol into their dorm room.

To really be prepared for your freshman year, however, you should get familiar with the people that will surround you on a daily basis.  Will your roommate be a Loner or a Homesick Child?  Will your lab partner be an Athlete/Ultimate Fan and therefore too busy checking on player stats and scores to write the chemistry report with you?  Only time will tell, so you might as well be prepared.

Here’s the 10 types of freshmen you’ll meet on campus:

The Party Boy/Girl

These kids came to college for one reason and one reason only: to partaaaaaaay!  They definitely spent too much time watching exaggerated college movies and are expecting nightly games of beer pong and hot, half-naked coeds everywhere.  They will be somewhat disappointed by the reality, but will make up for it by partying extra hard on the weekends.  Expect them to have converted their closet door into a makeshift beer pong table for their dorm room.  This kid is where the party is and always will be.

The Loner

If this kid didn’t go to class or appear in the dining hall once in a while, no one would know he even existed.  He/she is always on their computer with huge headphones on, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.  You’re not quite sure if you’ve ever heard them speak or seen them sleep, but they got into college somehow, so they must be somewhat intelligent.  In lecture halls, they are usually on a hand-held device or on their laptop, always in the corner or back.  Mad props if you hear this person speak or engage them in conversation or an activity of any kind.

The Homesick Child

They miss their mommies.  They also miss their bedroom, their dog, their siblings, all the home-cooked meals and a plethora of other things.  College is full of strange, unfamiliar things and they don’t like that.  The Homesick Child would rather stay in their dorm room and call/text their parents all day, complaining about everything from the cafeteria food to their roommate who “just doesn’t understand.”  On the plus side, they always seem to be getting care packages from home, so they’ll have cookies to share.

The Honors Geek

You’ll find this person in the library, hard at work finishing homework that’s due three weeks from now.  They’ve already accepted a research position for their favorite professor (whom they read about online before they even got to campus) and they are taking a healthy mix of honors and graduate-level courses.  Honors Geeks rarely have time to socialize outside of their labs or research offices, but they are pretty nice kids (once you get past the social anxiety that usually follows them around).  Maybe if you ask sweetly enough they’ll help you with your calculus homework (they’re guaranteed to have a bad ass calculator)…

The Good Kids Gone Bad

These kids were the ones in high school had had pretty good grades, some good friends, and a very normal life.  They then get to campus and are corrupted by the immediate availability of alcohol, sex, and whatnot.  Suddenly, that good kid you knew from high school is doing body shots off that sorority girl and skipping all his morning classes.  Most recover from their lapse of judgment, but some will continue to degenerate even further.

The Fraternity/Sorority Whore

Her mother was in Kappa Gamma Iota and his father was in Delta Chi Omega (both of those are completely made up, btw), so they will be rushing from the moment they step foot on campus.  They speak constantly about the sister/brotherhood, only wear clothes donning their precious letters, and go completely MIA for weeks due to rushing/pledging/whatever else they do in that giant house of theirs.

The Athlete/Ultimate Fan

This student came on either an athletic scholarship or on the love of your university’s football/basketball/hockey team.  They are the loudest at any sporting event and have been known to paint parts of their body in school colors.  Good luck getting them out of their dorm room on the weekends, because if they don’t have tickets to the game, then they’re gonna park it on their couch in their college colors rooting on the boys.

The Tortured Artist

You’ll be able to identify the Tortured Artists by the sketchbook/DSLR camera/guitar they tote around with them everywhere.  They hated all the droids of high school and the conformist society that surrounded them, so they’re already ingrained with a sense of community loathing.  This will make for awkward conversation in dorm hallways/lecture halls/cafeterias.  However, the Tortured Artist always has something interesting in their room (maybe a still life set up for photography class homework or a naked model for sketching) and they chain smoke like nobody’s business, so if you ever need a cigarette, go to them.

The Hippie Stoner

The Hippie Stoner doesn’t quite know how they got into college, but there’s a bunch of weed here so they’re not complaining.  This dude/chick never seems to leave their room and is always surrounded by a cloud of smoke. Whenever you come by to visit, they invite you in for some video games and invariably offer you some MJ.  Although the Hippie Stoner never attends class, he/she tends to major in Philosophy, Art History or something similarly useless.

The High School Wannabes

These are the people who graduated physically from high school, but haven’t left it mentally.  They still hang with all their high school friends, go home on weekends, and are probably dating someone who actually is in high school.  You’ll probably hear them in the cafeteria or on the phone reminiscing about the “good ‘ole days” back before they graduated.

Of course I would spend every high school moment from that morning bell—which seemed to ring earlier and earlier as my senior year wore on—to the final bell with my friends by my side. I was part of a bunch of different groups, all of which met after or before school and surrounded me with people. But at home, I had solitude.

With both my parents working and my brother off at college, I spent many nights doing homework, watching bad television and heating up leftovers all by myself. Some may think that would be lonely, but I really liked the peace and quiet.

It’s never quiet here. And sometimes I like it; with all the commotion, I haven’t had time to get homesick or have a culture shock freak out. There’s a feeling of community when I walk around campus and see someone I know or when I strike up a conversation with a stranger in the dining hall. Yet every once in awhile I realize… I never have a moment to myself.

I don’t sing anymore. No, I wasn’t a good singer, but I used to belt out lyrics while driving to school or doing some late-night studying with the radio on, my iPod providing a soundtrack for every occasion. Now, even when I’m sitting alone in my dorm room, I know anyone can walk by and hear me. When I’m walking alone around campus I know there is probably a person around the corner. And when I study in the library, I have to stop every three minutes to talk to a person who saw me and wanted to say hello.

In some ways I love that there are people always wanting to say hello. I’ve never been so friendly to so many people before, and I think some of them will actually become life-long friends, not just Orientation-buddies. But I also love the sound of silence, and there is precious little of that in college. Someone is always chatting loudly on her phone or blasting bad rap music from her car or playing the piano in the common room. Endless chatter, the bass of a car stereo and the notes of a musical instrument: this is my new soundtrack.

And soon I will learn to sing along with it, but for now I will start with just a tap of a foot, and maybe a hello in the library.

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Rewind to the end of senior year when a certain girl was debating between College A and College B. College A is the largest school in North Carolina, is very serious about their sports program (which means tons of fans to party with, plus I love college football) and just happens to be an hour from my boyfriend. College B is a smaller but well-known school located right in the middle of a booming city not to far from my home in Virginia that also happens to house an insane Arts/Fashion program.

Of course, naive senior Amber picked College A so she could get a degree in Fashion but still tailgate, party like crazy and spend time with her beau.

One cringe-worthy break up, one failed class, dozens of racial/socioeconomic clashes and too many drunken nights later I decided that it was time to transfer. My decision was a good one, but was made too late; by the time I submitted my application to another school (College C, I guess), it was impossible to receive housing and a decent financial aid package. Then I remembered good ol’ College B with the awesome Fashion program and decided going there was worth spending one semester at a sh*tty community college while having to obey Mom and Pop’s rules.

Some of you may have decided (or been forced) to stay at home too, or maybe I’m just hoping I’m not the only one that gets upset when I see those back to school commercials with all the cute dorm furniture and kids running through campus. Either way, there are pros and cons to movin’ back in with the rents and I know all about them:

Pros

-Saving money. At College A my room and board was about $6,000, not to mention all the sh*t i had to buy for my dorm and all the meals I wasted on my dining plan by not using them. Do you know what I could have done with that $6,000?!!

-Free (and good) meals. Mom’s baked macaroni and cheese? Dad’s fried turkey? ‘Nuff said.

-No roomate(s)/hallmates. No waking up to hearing some random drunk guy singing the fight song in front of your door. Naked.

-Spending time with the family. Sure I wasn’t very homesick at school, but I still missed my movie dates with mom and watching WWE with my dad, not to mention shopping trips with my sister.

Cons

-Lack of privacy. At College A I went out around 11 to party and came back around 5 or 6. Now I’m subjected to numerous questions about my whereabouts even if I’m just running to 7-11 for a slurpie.

-No more (heavy) partying. No more Thirsty Thursdays. No more late night beer runs. The one time I did drink while I’ve been home I was so afraid of coming home drunk that I drank about a quarter of what I usually consume. And left the party by 10.

-No more dorm fun. To make up for all the crappiness of dorm life, my friends and I would come up with all sorts of crazy things to do. Now I sit around and watch old episodes of Family Feud . Fun.

-Boys? What Boys? With the exception of myself, everyone in my neighborhood is either really old or really young, meaning NO eye candy whatsoever.

Deep down I know I really need this time to rethink my goals in life and get my priorities together, but I’m sure the next couple of months are going to be gruesome. Expect a full report at the end of the semester

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