The first semester of college is always the most difficult, for an innumerable amount of reasons. Not only is it nerve-wracking to be thrust into an entirely unfamiliar situation such as college, but it is a momentous change in one's personal life. They're away from their family, they've now got to balance difficult coursework with attempting to have a social life, they've got to attempt to develop a social life in this new environment - there are a thousand and one things that change in someone's life when they go to college. And any fragment of familiarity is held onto as if it were the most valuable thing in the world. Whether it be the blanket they brought that still smells like home, or a photo of their family setting on the nightstand, any sense of home is cherished.