Starting college in a new city can be a daunting thing for a lot of people. Especially in a city like Savannah. Here are some key ways to make a school like Georgia Southern and a city like Savannah feel like home.

1. Find a relaxing spot to study or occasionally visit.
Doing homework in your dorm can get very old very quickly. A good way to get acquainted with the city/campus is to find a spot that gives you comfort. If you’re big into coffee or the environment of a coffee shop, the Starbucks on campus is really nice to sit, catch up on homework, or people-watch. Savannah has so many good coffee shops, and a way to get acquainted with the city apart from the campus is to find one you feel most comfortable in. My favorite is Foxy Loxy Cafe or Blue Door Coffee, both on Bull Street.

2. Find a club or organization to get involved with on campus.
For me, this was the best and easiest way to make Georgia Southern feel like home. Armstrong has so many different organizations to fit every need that you are bound to find at least one that works for you. By finding a club or organization to get involved with, you are also opening up to new faces you might not have interacted with before.

3. Get acquainted with your professors.
Not only does this come in handy when planning out classes within your degree program after the first year, but having a more casual greeting with a professor when you see them on or off-campus is a very calming and validating thing.

4. Get acquainted with the campus.
This goes hand in hand with the first tip of finding a relaxing spot to study. One of my favorite things about the Armstrong campus is how much one can discover greenery at any given point. Even though many things about the campus make it a feature of Georgia Southern, there are still many quirks about some of the buildings that allow the Armstrong nature to shine. Getting acquainted with the campus and all the ins and outs of the buildings can offer a very peaceful and nurturing environment any time you’re there.

5. Create a new daily routine.
The hardest thing about adjusting to a new city when I moved away for college was establishing a new routine. New people surrounded me in a new place, which was jarring initially. Homesickness is normal, and one of the things that helped me beat that feeling was creating a new daily routine and hammering into the night part of that routine. I worked in a time to do homework, chat with friends from home, go on a walk, and do all the things that made the home feel like home, and eventually, Armstrong became my home.

The feeling and realization that Armstrong and Savannah will become your home isn’t something that will happen overnight. It takes time, and to reiterate, homesickness is normal. The process looks different for everyone, but Savannah and this campus are a special place, and it can feel like home if you let it.