You might think that, at 291 pages, the UMMC Student Bulletin, with its mile-long lists of classes, could not possibly have left anything out.

But it did: introduction to eating less pizza and more vegetables, the basics of getting more than four hours of sleep, and the fundamentals of staying connected to the people you love.

While those lessons could improve any student's chances of survival, many fail them miserably.

“Students are experts at delayed gratification,” said Dr. Scott Rodgers, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, “and that's not necessarily a good thing - they need to take care of their mind and body, their relationships; we need to help them take care of themselves.”

Looking for a way to fill that plot hole in the curriculum narrative, the department opened this month the Student Counseling & Wellness Center and brought in two mental health professionals to support students who could benefit from their services.

And there may be no shortage of those.

A crisis situation often reveals who one's true friends are. University of Mississippi colleagues Charlotte Pegues and Leslie Banahan discovered the depths of their friendship recently when a health crisis for the former brought the latter to her rescue.

Three years ago, Pegues' kidneys began to fail, eventually placing her in dire need of a transplant. Soon after hearing the news, Banahan volunteered to donate one of her own kidneys. Physicians determined the two were a match and the successful operation was performed June 9 at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

 “I feel like Leslie is my sister,” said Pegues, assistant provost for academic affairs and registrar. “I want to repay her in some way, but she said this was a gift. It's a God thing!”

Banahan, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said she is grateful and honored that she was able to be there for her friend.

“I wouldn't have done this for just anyone, but Charlotte is an amazing woman, someone I wanted to help so she could live a full, long, happy life with her husband, family and friends,” Banahan said. “We have a special connection now - sisters, really - as we have shared this journey together.”

Because becoming a living organ donor is a life-changing decision, Banahan said it was not a choice that she made quickly or without a great deal of research, prayer and consideration.

Jordan Morgan's ride to Walmart Tuesday carried an important cargo: To help kick off the retailer's annual drive for millions of dollars in donations to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Morgan, Mississippi's 2016-2017 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champion, rode up to the Clinton Walmart in a Walmart 18-wheeler with an escort from Jackson and Clinton police to kick off the Walmart and Sam's Club annual fundraising campaign.

“It doesn't have to be a large gift,” Morgan said at a news conference and rally at the store. “It can be whatever you have to give.”

Those dollars donated by associates and shoppers add up. The 2015 six-week U.S. campaign raised more than $42 million, or about $1 million a day and more than $10 per second. Walmart and Sam's Club associates, customers and members in the U.S. and Canada have raised more than $870 million for pediatric hospitals since 1987.

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Grenada, Lexington graduate 14 leaders; Millsaps business program enrolls eight faculty; University Heart earns Joint Commission's top marks; a physiologist garners AHA hypertension council acclaim; and Ph.D. student's poster commands microbiology world's attention.