Second-year student Hollyn Chantemerle was de-stressing Thursday afternoon, putting aside her classes in favor of puppies.
“I have a dog at home, and I miss him so much,” Chantemerle said. “So this just kind of brings back home and makes me excited to just power through finals and then just get back.”
Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services and Campus Wellness partnered up to bring puppies to students, giving them the opportunity to de-stress before finals.
PAALS works to empower children and adults with physical disabilities and social needs. Campus Wellness’s program coordinator, Michael Crowley, said that the partnership has provided great benefits to both organizations.
“[The program] really helps students. They said the biggest thing is the homesickness,” Crowley said. “Late in the semester, you’re constantly stressed out from your last wave of papers and exams before you get your final exams, and so that stress kicks into homesickness and one of the biggest things they miss are their pets.”
The event also provides relief to PAALS therapy dogs. Crowley said that the organization has even had parents that donated towards their organization because of how much it really has helped their children.
“It’s been a great partnership and we all benefit from it,” Crowley said. “Our job is to try and alleviate stress on campus, one of the many goals that our office has.”
The program is expected to start back up in January, and Campus Wellness is currently looking into more alternatives to provide students with relief on campus.