Finals week. It’s the final mile, the last bell toll that is rung, we’re almost to the end but it seems so far away. Many students have been feeling the stress of finals week back in early November, anticipating the work load of trying to balance four to five tests in a week. Most of us will be drinking more coffee than water in the week to come. (Maybe they should just set up a coffee IV drip?)
So how do we manage the stress, the anxiety? Many people offer exercise as an option, but during finals week, no one has time to spend an hour at the gym or on the track. I’m a stress eater myself, but already know how unhealthy that can be. It takes weeks for my body to recover from all the junk food I eat during finals week.
There was news last semester of the University of Toronto introducing the puppy room, which is a program where trained therapy dogs hang out at the library for strung-out college students to come play with as a study break. Faculty and staff noted the change in mood of many of the students, one of them even noting that they had never seen a student smile until they were greeted by a dog.
UofT isn't alone either; many private colleges like Emory University, Harvard, and Yale have long since invested in programs that offer students time to play with puppies. Statistics show that just being near a dog—let alone petting one—reduces the stress hormone of the brain, cortisol, and increases endorphins, the happy hormone.
The health benefits of dogs is exponential for college students, and relatively inexpensive for the university. Some programs on other college campuses only bring in pups in the weeks leading up to finals, or they have office hours during the week like Cooper, the shih tzu that takes care of Harvard Medical Students.
It also benefits the therapy dogs and their owners; I have a very close friend with a therapy dog, and she’s constantly training so that her dog can be certified. Giving these in-training therapy dogs the chance to practice their discipline and have fun with students at the same time can help them graduate from their own schooling.
A puppy program is something that all universities should be looking into to invest in, but until then, we can all just think about puppies. Really, stop and think about it right now. This big love ball giving you slobbery kisses all over your face, small itty-bitty puppies crawling all over you because their just so excited to see you! The absolute peaceful feeling of having a dog fall asleep on your lap. Are you smiling?
