Relieve Exam Anxiety at the Stress Free Paw-ty
Are you stressed about final exams? Do you love dogs? Then you don’t want to miss the Stress Free Paw-ty, Monday, April 29 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the campus quad.
Hosted by Bluefield College’s Public Relations II class, the Paw-ty is open to students and the community for a voluntary $2 donation. The event is designed to be a stress reliever for college students during exam week and a charity fundraiser benefitting the Tazewell County Animal Shelter. Students and community members can also purchase baked goods, adopt a dog, or hang out with fellow animal lovers.
“The Paw-ty event is a win-win opportunity for everyone involved,” said Dr. Cindy Bascom, professor of communication and a member of the PR II campaign team. “My advanced Public Relations students gain experience planning a PR campaign. The Tazewell Animal Shelter gains some contributions. The dogs and kittens may find a new forever home or at least get a fun afternoon away from the shelter, and Bluefield College students can release some stress during their finals.”
This is an event that colleges and universities across the nation have organized to help students get through exam week. Kent State University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Tennessee are just a few that have hosted similar events. Not only does the occasion help bring joy to students and take their mind off of the stress of finals, but it also helps comfort students who have been away from their family pet, according to BarkPost, a blog about dogs.
“I know other colleges have had similar events for their students, but I think this is the first time we’ve tried this at Bluefield College,” said Dr. Bascom. “I’m expecting our Paw-ty will be a big success, so perhaps It’ll become a yearly event.”
Joining Dr. Bascom on the PR II Paw-ty campaign team are students Emily Carlisle, Melissa Denson, and Sahara Brewster. They are running the public relations campaign and fundraising event as part of a class project for PR II.
“I am really excited because when I came to college I thought I wanted to be a feature journalist, and when I started taking classes I realized that PR was a much better form of feature journalism and I am pretty excited to put on this event and have a better sense of the life of a PR professional,” said Carlisle, a communication and graphic communication double major. “I also have to say Dr. Bascom has been a heaven-sent angel guiding us through this project.”
The idea for the Stress Free Paw-ty came up in a class brainstorming session where they all agreed that holding a stress relief event with dogs is what they wanted to do. They then chose a charity they felt would benefit most from the event, which happened to be the Tazewell County Animal Shelter. The class has spent its entire spring semester preparing. They have created advertisement materials for both the event and the shelter, gathered materials, and visited the animals at the shelter.
If you would like to learn more about the shelter check out their Facebook page here. If you want to de-stress, donate, play with some dogs, or maybe even adopt a pet, come out to the quad on Monday, April 29 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The animals would love to see you.