College Students Relieve Exam Stress by Playing With Puppies
by Laura Cross
Published on April 25, 2012
College students across the country will soon be spending their days locked in the library, surrounded by empty cans of Red Bull, stacks of unread books and pages of scribbled notes. Spring is in the air, which can only mean one thing on college campuses: It's exam time.
But some fortunate students might not be as bleary-eyed and stressed-out as their peers, thanks to an innovative stress reliever: puppies.
Starting on April 28, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. will bring in puppies from People Animals Love, a non-profit organization that provides puppies to area hospitals and convalescent homes. Not only will harried students get to pet and play with these adorable fluffy fur balls, those who participate will also get a free slushie. The program is aptly named “Slush Puppies.”
But will it work? Student Katie Dubois told The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper, “I don’t think any amount of slushies or puppies will take the stress away from finals, but it sounds great.”
Georgetown isn’t the only school bringing puppy love to campus during finals. University of Akron brought in dogs of all ages to visit students as they walked to class, George Mason University Law School brought 15 homeless and adoptable puppies to campus last winter and Tufts University and Yale University students get to pet licensed therapy dogs.
