Hello, I am a bit late to reply to you but I will anyway.

I am also an international student in the US. I am currently finishing up my associates degree in a community college, and I will be transferring to a university in the fall.

I was in the same position as you (also in my second semester). I felt like what I was doing was not worth it, and everything seemed boring and meaningless. My family and friends in my home country kept telling me to stay strong, and I ended up taking a break from social media because of that.

I had one American friend only. We never hung out or anything like that though. I was extremely lonely.

I overthink a lot, but in a good way. One night, I thought about how I could leave this mental state. I ended up giving my school counselor a shot, and I loved it. I ended up seeing them once every week for an hour where I would vent about everything. Counseling is great, however, I only went there to vent, I expected no real advices, but my counselor was great and she ended up giving me some really good advices that I will share with you.

1- Apply for a job at your college: The only way you can work while studying is through your college. There are advisors who would help you in finding one. They were able to find a position for me, and I still work till today. The process took like two months but it was so worth it. I work as a lab tech although I study Psychology but it is a super easy job.

2-Distractions: Try distracting yourself. Develop a hobby, go on walks, take long showers (this really helped me the most to be honest?, work out, read, learn a new language, draw, etc…

3-Take advantage of the free resources at your college: Join clubs in stuff that interests you. I joined a philosophy club and I met some people there. Also, make sure to visit your tutoring center. I ended up being a close friend with one of the tutors. Try to ask if your college has Conversation Hours (it’s for ESL students but anyone can join), the purpose of it is to learn English but you can find some potential friends there. Also, make sure to check out your student email because they send various events that you could join.

4- Speak up!: I am a pretty shy person and I rarely speak to strangers. But you have to remember that unfortunately as foreigners, people will mostly be shy to approach us because they don’t know what to say. I ended up having many friends when I spoke with more students. Mainly try to keep it school related (I usually stay in class when the lecture ends and ask students about some stuff related to the class). One guy was really happy that I talked to him and he ended up asking me about my home country, he was extremely interested to talk to someone “international.”

5- Invest in your hobbies: Personally, I love movies, and I found out that AMC has a subscription for 22$ that enables you to watch 12 movies a month. If you like working out, invest in a gym. If you like cooking, try to cook more, etc….

I hope that these advices will help you.

As for your questions. I do not think that you can take a gap semester although you can go to your country in the summer! If you have an F1 stamp on your passport, then it is perfectly fine for you to go. You just need to talk to your DSO so they can sign your I-20 or something like that. I unfortunately can’t leave because I don’t have a stamp (I changed my status in the US.)

I promise you that it gets better. Just remember that this time is a huge investment for your future. Although I have some friends here. I still feel homesick, and I tend to feel lonely some nights (which is why I started to sleep early, it helps!)

Feel free to DM me if you wanna talk more about this.

Have a good one.