Wellness campaigns are useful, but the daily routines students build are what truly move the needle on student health and wellness. The ideas below focus on realistic habits that fit into busy schedules and can be reinforced by faculty, residence life staff, advisors, and campus partners who work closely with students. These are also opportunities to highlight trainings and resources that support mental health in simple, concrete ways.

1. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule (a note from Priscilla: students laugh when I say they should get more sleep!)

For many students, sleep gets sacrificed when day-to-day activities get busy. Late-night study sessions, social events, and work shifts can quickly turn into chronic exhaustion. Helping students understand how sleep affects mood, concentration, and memory makes healthy sleep feel less like a chore and more like a core academic strategy.

Practical steps students can take include:

• Aiming for a regular bedtime and wake-up time most days of the week.
• Limiting caffeine and screens close to bedtime.
• Creating short wind-down rituals, such as reading, journaling, or stretching.
• Note from Priscilla: If they want a job, a job on the Mo State campus allows them to stay on campus so they usually don’t have late night shifts, which means they can get more sleep.

2. Eat Balanced Meals and Stay Hydrated

Students who skip meals or rely mainly on fast food often notice mood dips, trouble focusing, or afternoon crashes. Nutrition does not need to be perfect to make a difference. Simple changes, like adding a piece of fruit or choosing water more often, can support energy and concentration.

Remind your student to take snacks with them to their classes! Granola bars, fruit, raw veggies are always a favorite. As they get ready to start classes in August get them a new water cup, you know one of those cool ones they can cover with stickers. They can keep it filled at the hydration stations all over campus, plus they will get more stickers than they know what to do with so why not cover their nice, big water container with those stickers!

Note from Priscilla: For students facing food insecurity, Mo State has the Bear Pantry, the food pantry located on the first floor of the Plaster Student Union.

3. Build Movement into Your Day

Students often imagine exercise as going to the gym, which can feel impossible when schedules are packed. Reframing movement as something flexible and accessible makes it easier for more students to participate. Even short walks between classes or stretching during study breaks can support student health and wellness.

Mo State promotes movement by highlighting free or low-cost options: intramural sports, campus recreation classes, walking paths, or short activity breaks in class. When movement is framed as a tool for boosting mood, focus, and sleep rather than body shape, more students feel welcome.

Quick ideas that support wellness activities for students:

• Walking with a friend instead of always meeting in a residence hall.
• Using stairs when possible or taking a short walking break while listening to a podcast.
• Trying low-pressure activities like yoga, dancing, or recreational sports.

A note from Priscilla: Student Wellness at Magers Health & Wellness has great programs all through the year to help our students stay at their best! These include yoga classes, Pickleball, walking challenges, classes such as self defense classes for women and so much more.

4. Stay Connected with Friends and Mentors

Loneliness is a major risk factor for student mental health challenges. Many students arrive on campus without an established support system and may not know how to build one. Encouraging students to connect with peers, advisors, and staff early and often improves both social well-being and academic outcomes. Note from Priscilla: If your student lives in a Residence Hall, their RA will reach out to them encouraging them to attend events, talking with them about their classes, if they are having any issues and offering them resources to help them be successful.

At Mo State, the Office of Student Engagement host many events to get our students connected to each other all throughout the year. That starts with Welcome Week!  Welcome Week is open to all students, not just new students. Encourage your student to take part in all the activities offered Thursday, August 13th-Friday, August 21st! Free to all students, no sign-up required!

Mo State has departments that “foster connection by creating peer mentoring programs, encouraging group projects that are thoughtfully structured, and training instructors to incorporate brief, low-stakes opportunities for students to talk with one another.” (Vector Solutions)

These efforts signal that relationships are a key part of wellness for students. Here at Mo State, that includes Student Wellness, the Counseling Center,  the Student Affairs mentoring program for new to college students, Bears Mentoring Bears, Success Coaches through the Center for Academic Success and Transition, just to name a few.

5. Seek Help When You Need It

One of the most powerful skills students can learn is recognizing when they need support and knowing where to go. Many students wait until they are overwhelmed, unsure when feeling stressed is “normal” and when it is a sign to reach out. Faculty and staff help by naming specific signs that it is time to seek support and by sharing resource lists in the syllabus, learning platforms, and advising meetings. A note from Priscilla: Remind your student how important the syllabus from each class is to them!

Colleges that promote courses and resources like Vector’s mental well-being for students course give students concrete tools to recognize distress, practice coping strategies, and connect with help. When instructors and staff model help-seeking, it reinforces that using support is a strength, not a weakness.

Students can be encouraged to:

• Talk with a counselor, advisor, or health provider when emotions or stress feel unmanageable.
• Use crisis or after-hours support lines when immediate help is needed. (at Mo State – https://counselingcenter.missouristate.edu/crisisservices.htm)
• Ask trusted faculty, mentors, or resident assistants for help navigating resources.

The Mo State Counseling Center has many programs available to our students to help them through the stressful times, and times they want to take breaks and meditate and relax. These include:

Welltrack Boost – WellTrack Boost is a suite of free online tools and courses using aspects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy available to MSU students to help identify, understand and address issues that you are having.

Togetherall – Togetherall is a safe online community for MSU students to share feelings anonymously and get support to improve mental health and wellbeing. In the community, people support each other, safely monitored by licensed and registered mental health practitioners. Join the Togetherall community today.

Online screenings, Body U, and Community Resources are other resources besides regular appointments that the Counseling Center offers.

These are just a few of the many resources that are available to your student at Missouri State. Stay tuned as we share more in the coming weeks!

(adapted for Missouri State and shared from https://www.vectorsolutions.com/resources/blogs/the-importance-of-health-and-wellness-for-college-students/?hsCtaAttrib=208573734771)