PAWS hosts Sleep Week 2021

Caleb White, Online Editor

Last week, Peers Advocating Wellness For Students (PAWS) hosted Sleep Week 2021 on-campus from Monday, Nov. 8 to Friday, Nov. 12. 

Sleep Week was intended to bring attention to the mental health issues regarding sleep, especially in college students, and to educate people about healthy habits. Throughout the week, the PAWS team directed three in-person events and posted informational graphics on Instagram. Tasneem Mohammed, a PAWS executive, explained how their programming was timely.

“Around this time of the year, people get super stressed with work and stop taking care of themselves, sacrificing sleep for academics and staying up all night to write papers,” she said.

“I think that sleep isn’t taken as seriously as it should be. You have people who go, ‘oh, haha, I stayed up all night and drank three red bulls,’ well that’s actually horrible for you and you’ll feel terrible the next day, which doesn’t have to happen. So we’re trying to give it the attention that it deserves.” 

Sleep Week’s events began with “Sleep Secrets” Tabling on Monday, in the Hagan campus center from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. The event taught trivia about sleep statistics and myths, and students received free Sleep Week 2021 shirts for attending. They were also entered into a prize raffle for a sleep sound machine and weighted blanket.

On Wednesday, PAWS helped students to make “sleep bottles” at their general member meeting at 7:30 pm. The sleep bottles included Orbeez, buttons, water, and glitter to make soothing sounds and to support one’s sleep. Mohammed noted that the event was especially popular, and students told her after how much they enjoyed the activity. 

Thursday included another tabling event in Hagan at noon. Students who attended were asked fill-in-the-blank trivia questions about sleep hygiene and sleep disorders, and were awarded with lavender-scented Play-Doh. Mohammed said her friends had fun with the Play-Doh as a good fidget toy in class.

Throughout the week, the PAWS Instagram account posted flyers and graphics about the importance of sleep. Some notable posts included tips for getting healthy sleep and the sleep statistics of college students. 

Mohammed stressed the importance behind the mission of Sleep Week, especially as the semester nears finals. 

“You are what’s most important, even if you don’t do amazingly in a class it’s not the end of the world. If you have to go to tutoring, to office hours, that’s okay. But put yourself first, which means put your mental health first, which means putting your sleep first.”

PAWS brings awareness to health issues of all kinds. This week, from Monday Nov. 15 to Friday Nov. 19, they will be hosting Healthy Lifestyles Week, which promotes healthy living habits. The details for upcoming events will be posted to Instagram on the official PAWS account, @assumptionupaws.