Author: happeenational

A Carolina student’s POVNote: The opinions presented here are that of the author and not necessarily those of HAPPEE, Inc. I first learned about Hugs & Pups my second day on campus before the start of my freshman year. This was during a time where I was trying to figure out my place and how […]

A Carolina student’s POVNote: This post was written following the events at UNC-Chapel Hill on 8/28/2023. The opinions presented here are that of the author and not necessarily those of HAPPEE, Inc. It would be a lie to say I’m not still in a daze, physically feeling the effects but mentally denying what happened to […]

A Carolina student’s POVNote: This post was written just before the events of 8/28/2023  There’s a strong belief circulating among us students at UNC that we have to be the best. The best in our classes, the best in our field of study, the best in speaking a new language, the best in participating in […]

We have bad news and better news.Bad NewsHAPPEE’s Infectious Disease consultant Dr. David Wohl and I were finally able to connect in mid-January, after playing contact tag for awhile. He recommended not hugging students until the latest Omicron COVID surge declines. The fact that I am (some might say “annoyingly”) careful and bivalent boosted and, […]

We are grateful for YOU!Happy Thanksgiving to all of our HAPPEE friends. We are so grateful that you decided to join us in this endeavor to create a place for students to come and feel cared for and safe. Some students have gone from barely a fist bump to reaching out for hugs immediately upon […]

“Hey, don’t you live in my dorm?”The students and we have all settled into the semester. We were on campus 6-7 days each week for the first six weeks or so after the students’ return. We have now transitioned into our semester-long schedule of being on campus Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. When we are […]

So many students, so many dogs, so many hugs!You may have noticed that this website hasn’t been updated since just before the fall semester began. That’s because there has been at least one Hugs & Pups team on UNC-CH’s campus almost every day since the dorms opened, most of them with at least one brand-new […]

So Many New Dogs!In the waning days of summer, students may have mixed feelings about leaving their carefree life at home and coming back to campus, their college friends, and classes (including early morning ones – ugh!). Our HAPPEE volunteers, however, are unequivocally excited. We can’t WAIT to have “our” students back! We’ll miss our […]

How much do they love our dogs?From the first time we set foot on campus with a dog, hoping to bring a little emotional support to a reeling community, it was obvious to us that a dog and a hug really could have a substantial, if temporary, impact on student mental health. It almost seemed […]

I never thought I’d get excited about paperwork! HAPPEE is now in our first full fiscal year (July 1-June 30) of being an official non-profit organization! Our first Board of Directors meeting of the year was last week and we are starting our year off with, what else… paperwork. But that’s OK, because it’s the […]