My second favorite part of finals is when my mom sends me a picture of my dogs for motivational support.

My favorite part is when I get to go home from finals and see three border collies running outside to almost tackle me.

College is weird in that you leave most of the people you love for a brand new place. You also leave all of the animals you've probably grown up with. The longer you're gone, the more your pet ends up missing you. For instance, when I get home from school my dog Daisy jumps up, puts her paws on my shoulders, and tries to take me down to the ground because she's afraid I'll leave again. She never did that until I went to college.

When my older brother lived in our house his dog Mario would stay in his room with him at night. When my brother moved out, Mario would walk upstairs and look completely lost because he wasn't sure where to go without my brother. The other night our dog Blue heard my little brother's voice and got so excited because he knew it was time to follow him to his room.

But the relationship between dogs and people are a two way street, especially in my family. When one of my brothers was in the hospital the summer after my freshman year I didn't cry to my friends, I cried to Daisy. I've heard my older brother talk about Mario coming up to him when he was sad after not doing well at a wrestling meet. Every dog that's been in my family has learned that my little brother with cerebral palsy is different, and they're a little more gentle with him than the rest of us.

I've always grown up with multiple dogs, and I've lost some of the best. They're all a little crazy but so is my whole family. It's basically a requirement at this point that we have to get a border collie with at least one quirk and then name them after a "Super Mario Bros" character.

Sometimes seeing a campus dog can make my day, but nothing beats seeing one of my own.