Skype: Beating Homesickness While Studying Abroad

By: Stephanie Savage
Posted In: Entertainment

While studying abroad is an incredible experience, it can also be a difficult transition for some students who may have a tendency to get homesick. For many study abroad students it is often their first time living on their own in an apartment, while for others it may be their first time traveling outside of the United States. Even if you have lived on your own or traveled out of the country before, both of which I had before studying in Italy, transitioning to another country can still be difficult. Luckily, innovative technology has come to the rescue, yet again, with an online software program, dubbed Sykpe.

Staying in touch has become easier with Skype, allowing its users to make free international video calls from one computer to the next. In addition to this and instant messaging, Skype also provides the ability to call landlines and mobiles from your computer for an unbeatable low rate of just two cents per minute. Talk about globalization.

Here in Italy, where I have been studying abroad for the past month and a half, Skype has become an integral part of my daily routine. I use it not only to keep in touch with my family, friends, and boyfriend back home, but also to keep up with friends of mine that are studying abroad elsewhere around the world. Given that I am using a laptop, I have been able to use Skype to provide a sort of virtual tour of my apartment here in Italy to those back home. The instant messaging feature also makes it great for when the internet connection is poor during video calls.

So if it’s a fear of becoming homesick that’s keeping you from going abroad, fear no more. Skype makes communication faster and easier than ever before, and best of all, it’s free.