New campaign targets freshmen to help them make the grade

August 31, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Healthy Gators 2010 launches its new campaign Wednesday to help freshmen stay healthy and do their best during their first semester at the University of Florida.

The “Start Fresh, Man!” campaign will include events, online tools and programs, and incorporates advice from upperclassmen in its messages. These messages center on the phrase “If I Only Knew” to draw freshmen’s attention to information that experienced students wish they would have known when they first started UF. Students can watch for information tables at the Reitz Student Union Colonnade and a pajama party at Jennings Hall. Healthy Gators members will distribute hand sanitizers on campus buses.

“Freshmen often seek advice from upper-class students, so this is one way they can learn from their mistakes,” said Cliff Haynes, coordinator of Academic Residential Programs for UF Housing and Residence Education.

The campaign will focus on the following topics throughout the fall in three-week intervals: time management, sleep, cold and flu prevention, and study skills.

“These health topics are linked to academic success,” said Jane Emmerée, chairwoman of the HG 2010 Programming and Communications Work Group. “In a 2008 survey of more than 1,200 UF students, cold and flu, stress and sleep were top impediments to academic performance and only 11 percent of survey participants were ‘very satisfied’ with how they managed their time.”
Students can visit the Healthy Gators 2010 Web site or Facebook fan page as these topics roll out throughout the fall semester. Resources will include ways to create a consistent study schedule, to set a bedtime ritual, to stay healthy during cold and flu season, which typically coincides with midterms, and to incorporate study breaks that reduce stress and improve concentration.

For more information about “Start Fresh, Man!,” please visit HealthyGators.hhp.ufl.edu or contact Emmerée at Emmeree@ufl.edu or 352-392-1161, ext. 4281.