Severely depressed since 2018 for stupid reason - Leaving the UK and Uni

This is going to be really really long apologies: also I am no longer an intern in audit lol.

Do any of you struggle with university and work nostalgia after having to move away from a country due to visa issues? How did you cope? Please share your story, below Is mine

I have been very sad about this very trivial issue for a long time and I wanted to know how you guys cope with this. People have laughed at me when I tell them I am homesick for London so I don't bring it up anymore. 

So I am an American who got a scholarship to go to a UK university. I graduated in 2016 and could not find a job to sponsor my visa so I had to move back to the US. I had a job but it was lost due to the startup going under in 2018

The problem is, I was very happy in London with a girlfriend I was in love with and a very tight knit circle of friends which I never had in America (I found my feet socially in London).

I did not expect to leave the UK, so the sudden loss of my job was devastating. I didn't see this coming so got my mum and dad as well as my siblings to visit regularly the years prior and it became a second home and we all loved it, I've got so many videos of these times as well. 

After leaving the UK I couldn't find a job for a very long time and because I had no friends here in America I was very lonely. Slowly but surely I lost most of the friends I made in London, we still talk very rarely but I still have one or two people I am still really close to and I am grateful for these guys. 

The time I spent unemployed and the very recent death of my father makes me long for my uni days and my time working in London. I have so many videos of my family especially my dad in London during much happier times and it makes me so sad to watch these now. 

Its weird because even though I am American I feel kinda British. I stayed there for 5 years during very formative years and I am very embarrassed to admit to anyone I feel this way people think I'm being weird or a poser. 

The feeling of homesickness is very much eating me alive so I would like to move back ASAP. 

I have a job in IBD as an analyst I just started so I am gearing up to move back to the UK in the next few years but for now I am so bitter I left in the first place, my dad is gone and I lost a lot of friends so it wouldn't be the same but I am still hopeful. I have visited a few times since I left and just being back gives me so much joy so I am sure the eventual relocation would be amazing.

Do any of you have this kind of nostalgia? I know there's quite a few of us who are on visas.

2 Comments
 

I am from the US but have worked in many nations. It is normal to feel this way, I also miss a lot of things about each country. Maybe it is a certain situation where I was happy, a relationship that worked well, a job that was fulfilling.
1) If you really want to go back one day, you will get a shot. People already know you have been and had the experience, so it is more likely to work out. You have a network, know the culture, etc
2) You can be happy in other places as well. Think about why you felt a certain way in a certain country. Chances are high it was because of your friends, your job, your own demeanor. It is never just a post code or country. You can feel similar in the US as well if you want to.
 

Apply to jobs in the UK, there are many right now.

 

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