Today is my last day in the US before I leave for school and it's such a weird melancholic feeling. I assume everyone gets like this before going to vet school, but there's constantly this little voice in the back of my head telling me it could have been different, if I just tried harder I could have gotten into my instate and things could have been so much easier, ect. I know it's part of that imposter syndrome that everyone suffers from, but the finality of it all really hammers it home. All of my belongings are in boxes at my parent's house or in 3 checked bags, my beloved pets are being cared for by parents and friends until I get things sorted over there in a year or so, and so I just can't help but wonder. Everyone keeps asking and saying how excited I must be, and I am! But there's a sense of loss there too, just thinking about 'what could have been'. I don't doubt I'm making the right decision, only if I could have tried harder in the past to get a different outcome. I'm sure I'll feel better once I'm there, making friends and doing the work, but I'll definitely have some part of homesickness that inevitably comes with moving away from familiar things.
hey!! I am still in the US, so I know that my experience isn't the same as yours. But, I was really emotional during my move and leading up to it. I think I sobbed like two days after I got accepted, not out of happiness, but purely just out of being overwhelmed and feeling like I was really going to grieve my current life at the time. I love my hometown, I loved my job, my friends, my family. I honestly had never even gotten that ecstatic feeling of acceptance, I was mostly just really worried.
For me, starting school was the best thing. That is when I truly got that amazing feeling of "I made it!" and I am a month in and that feeling still hasn't faded. Sure, it's stressful and I still have anxiety, but, I am literally so happy to be learning all of this finally. I get stressed and I complain a lot lol, but in general, I still have this feeling of just being so happy to be here and this really amazing affirmation that I got what I always wanted (even if the location is different, even if it's not what I imagined). I feel like nobody says that vet school is fun, but it is! I know I am still early into school so I don't want to sound super naive but, genuinely, I feel so happy to be here.
I am so busy with school that I honestly don't feel like I have
time to be homesick. I was pretty worried about being homesick because I moved far from home once before and got homesick within a week and then traveled home every chance I could-- which I knew wouldn't be possible as a vet student. The difference was I had a lotttt of freetime in that scenario and I didn't really have any friends or any "third places" to go to. Here, I am always working on something and I have a whole cohort of people going through the exact same thing as me that I can hang out with. I do miss my friends and family sometimes but I feel so much better when I give them a call and it works for me! My point is, with all the anxiety I had leading up to this, I have adjusted wayyy better than I thought I would.
Of course, there will still be an adjustment period and there's going to be some culture shock as well, so be kind to yourself and give yourself that space. But, I think, once you develop a routine, things will be really great!
