The Science Behind Homesickness

The ever-reliable WebMD defines homesickness as the emotional distress one feels in an unfamiliar environment away from home. Research has shown that over half of university students experience homesickness in their first few weeks away from home. But, luckily, there are numerous ways to fight this feeling.

“Culture shock” is one of the most notable symptoms of, or reactions to, homesickness, and surprisingly is not merely brought about through defamiliarisation, but also in the idealisation of home. This is amplified by the stress of university, with deadlines left, right and centre, and the excessive independence aggravated by a distinct lack of parents to brush away your problems. However, one is never truly alone when there are countless other students and dedicated wellbeing staff around. The worst thing to do in such a scenario is isolate yourself in your room for the foreseeable future.

Feelings of isolation partially attribute to homesickness, with one in four students feeling lonely the majority of the time according to a study by the Higher Education Policy Institute. Homesickness may have even “evolved to discourage people from leaving supportive groups”, or so Elizabeth Van Brocklin says in the Duke Magazine.

Considering the density of our campus communities, it’s unsurprising that homesickness is felt by university students. It’s easy to see yourself as a lost, little needle in a haystack. However, all you need is a tiny bit of courage. The Students’ Union provides clubs and societies that exist for almost every imaginable hobby; from travel to Taylor Swift, and sports too. Within these groups, you can find like-minded people for life. Interestingly, brain imaging studies about homesickness have discovered evolutionary traces of pressure in the brain likenable to physical pain. Not only does this exhibit that this feeling is more than just some millennial melodrama, it suggests that in the past, it was potentially a Darwinistic survival mechanism. Made worse at university via getting thrown in the deep end with an overwhelming sense of cluelessness and imposter syndrome.

Yet, there are ways to cope with these feelings, as I, myself, felt impossibly underqualified to do a Physics degree. However, after contacting Tutors and heads of departments, I managed to switch to English and German after a month. If you know you are on the right path but still feel swamped with the workload and the faster, sleep-deprived lifestyle of university, it’s still a great idea to let your personal tutor know or even mentors and friends. They can all share their experiences about coping with stress, prioritising academic elements, and juggling work with your studies.

Homesickness can affect you in other ways too, but opening up to people, whomever it may be, can resolve the majority of them. Universities all over the country offer expert advice to deal with such emotions, but just know it can take time to realise that home is never merely a physical place. It’s the people, and there will always be some waiting for you around the corner.

Page Design by Emma Travers Illustration by Catrin Dimond

By Jacob Edwards

Celebrating Queerness, Live Music, and Living in LA: An Interview with Pale Waves’ Heather Baron-Gracie

With the success of their third studio album ‘Unwanted’, Pale Waves’ frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie shares her experience of Manchester’s music scene, life at university, and postpandemic touring with Impact’s Matthew Fogarty.

The four piece are getting back into touring and gigs after a long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however Baron-Gracie was grateful for the pause. “Before the pandemic I was really in need of a break.”

Three and a half years of constant touring had found the band worn down, but with the pandemic forcing many to re-evaluate their priorities, Heather revealed how the band “definitely have a new appreciation for it, that’s just all we want to do right now. We just want to get back on the road and just play more shows.

As we spoke, Pale Waves were getting ready to tour Japan. I asked if there was any country that they enjoyed the most when touring, and Baron-Gracie couldn’t help but laugh when she replied: “I think Japan, not just because we’re going there on Saturday, but it’s just crazy to me that we could go so far from home and people would still turn up.” Speaking of travelling, I was curious as to how Pale Waves is received by American audiences, as much of the recent album was recorded in Los Angeles, she offered an insight: “The Americans, yeah, I think they liked it. I think they could tell that I was singing in a British accent.” They worked closely with American, Grammy-nominated record producer Zakk Cervini, whose previous collaborations with Bring Me the Horizon and Blink-182 show influence in their latest music.

Baron-Gracie explained that drummer Ciara Doran “spends

When asked to summarise the sound of Pale Waves to a new listener, lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie opted for the word “alternative” but, chuckling to herself, made sure to preface that she says this “because I think that sounds the coolest.” With their latest LP, ‘Unwanted’, Pale Waves delivers a sound unlike any they have produced before. “We’ve kind of gone through lots of phases, we’ve gone through an 80s phase, a 2000s throwback stage, and now we are kind of in our alternative, modern sounding phase,” she explained The band’s new album has seen great success on the UK album charts, peaking at number four. Discussing this success, Baron-Gracie noted that “for me, that’s really cool because when I was a kid I always would look and imagine getting into the charts.”

This is Pale Waves’ second consecutive album to chart in the top five, and they’re showing no signs of their success stopping anytime soon. When asked about the significance of using real life events to create their authentic sound, BaronGracie, who co-writes all the songs on the album, stated that “I feel like you always get the best kind of outcome when you take something so personal to you and kind of channel it into art.” It’s not just the lyrics that are impacted by this kind of writing, she continued that “I feel like overall you get the best sound and sonically the most genuine piece of art that you can create. a lot of time in America, in LA in particular. You feel almost more accepted there.” Both Baron-Gracie and Doran are members of the LGBTQ+ community and find Los Angeles “quite progressive” compared to their experiences in the UK, where BaronGracie feels “we have come a long way, but there’s definitely more of a journey to go.” Pale Waves’ latest album contains far more references to queer culture and experiences than their previous music. “I kind of found it a bit intimidating because I wanted to do it justice, I didn’t want to just do a Katy Perry ‘I Kissed a Girl’ song, even though, you know, it’s a bit of a tune,” a laugh ensued.

Celebrating LGBT experiences is not just a personal mission for the band, Baron-Gracie explained the impact their music has had on fans. “It’s just so nice to create that kind of safe space for queer people to come to our shows and feel comfortable,” but the thing that still amazes the band is when “someone tells you that you’ve saved their life.”

The importance of these messages is not lost on Baron-Gracie and Doran, who both bonded over music that spoke to them when they met at university in Manchester. “To be honest, the only good thing that university did for us was that it allowed us to meet each other.” She was not shy to critique her experiences at BIMM [British and Irish Modern Music Institute] Manchester saying, “I got kicked out at one point and