Sleep is the keystone
The all-nighter is a bad trade: the lost sleep costs you more on the exam than the extra hours gained. Aim for a consistent schedule even on weekends, keep the room dark and cool, and get screens out of bed. If you cannot sleep for weeks, that is worth a health or counseling appointment, not just more coffee.
Eating on a meal plan
Residential dining always has a vegetable station, a protein, and something whole-grain — build most plates from those and treat the dessert and fried stations as sometimes food. Keep fruit, nuts, and something with protein in your room for the 11 p.m. study gap. A campus dietitian will help for free if food is complicated for you.
Move most days
The recreation center is included in your fees; so are group fitness classes and intramurals. Twenty minutes of walking, lifting, or a pickup game most days does more for stress and focus than an occasional hard workout. Building it into a routine — same time, with a friend — is what makes it stick.
Colds, flu, and the clinic
Rest, fluids, and time handle most viral illness. See student health if a fever stays above 101°F for more than two days, you cannot keep fluids down, breathing is hard, symptoms improve then sharply worsen, or a "sore throat" is severe and one-sided. Same-day appointments exist for exactly this.
Prevention that is worth it
Get the flu shot at a campus clinic in October, keep your immunizations current (the university requires proof of some), wash your hands, and do not share drinks during cold season in a crowded residence hall. Sexual health services provide contraception, testing, and confidential care.
The mind is part of health
Low mood, anxiety that will not settle, or not enjoying things you used to are health issues, not character flaws, and the first year is a common time for them to show up. Counseling is included in fees, "Let’s Talk" is a no-commitment way to start, and the 24-hour line is (715) 555–0117.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.