Nobody ever said college would be a cake-walk. Finals are hard, organizing your club’s big finale fundraiser is hard, and time management is even harder. Things get messy this time of year, and hair begins to thin. It happens.

But when you find yourself frantically pacing with a fully-booked planner in hand, remember this: there have been worse tragedies.

You’re not sitting vulnerably in a Humvee in Iraq. You’re not braving an East African drought with cotton-mouthed toddlers at home. And you’re not being persecuted for your faith or sex.

You’re busy. That’s it.

And you know that with enough time your agony will end, and you’ll sit comfortably in an office suite with a water cooler, a paycheck and the promise of living another day.

This isn’t to downplay any immediate suffering. Stress—the body’s natural way of responding to “threats” of any kind—can serve as a real detriment to your physical health if it persists too long.

According to Mayo Clinic, “The long-term activation of the stress-response system — and the subsequent overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones — can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including: Heart disease, Sleep problems, Digestive problems, Depression, Obesity, Memory impairment, (and) Worsening of skin conditions, such as eczema.”Other health problems caused by stress include headache, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue and a change in sex drive.

We don’t know about you GVSU, but here at the Lanthorn, ain’t nobody got time for that.

Reducing that stress, dialing down the melodrama and get some sleep here and there is, in fact, important. According to researchers at UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, sleep deprivation leads to short-term euphoria, which we recognize at first glance sounds ideal, but if you take a look at the potential side effects of those short-term bouts of heightened positivity, the results are less glamorous. Lack of sleep can cause a boost in your brain’s dopamine levels – the neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and happiness – essentially snapping a person’s brain from a state of rational productivity to an irrational, fight-or-flight survival mode.

Moral of the story, GVSU: don’t binge on Redbull for two weeks, stay up for 36-hour stretches of time and expect things to go well.

We’ll admit we’re not experts, so here’s some proof: to reduce stress, Mayo Clinic advises engaging in physical activity, meditating, laughing, connecting with others, doing yoga, sleeping, writing or seeking counseling.

But if none of these practices work, don’t be discouraged. Breathe deeply, keep calm, and carry on.