Pet Your Stress...Away
Written By Asia Howe
“I stress a lot, sometimes.” — David Oritz
Sometimes, we college students stress a lot. Fortunately for us, our friends from the University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) Student Activities Council (SAC) know we do. One SAC student event planner has thus organized a function during which we can, with some assistance from man’s best friend, pet our stress away. Chloe Colvin, sophomore and Animal Science major whose course of study contains a companion animal emphasis, invited us to SAC’s Pet Away Stress event at 10:00 am in Campus Center Plaza on Tuesday, April 7.
“This is my first time organizing this event,” Colvin asserts. The student event planner’s newness to the function does not make the process any less educational. “I have learned how to organize events, mostly [by] working in the [SAC] office, following the steps to a successful event and doing the correct paperwork [for an event]. I have [also] learned about making contacts which is something I do not do for most classes. Getting in touch with the veterinarian club at UHH to ask if they would like to partner with me and let me use their dogs was a new experience.”
UHH sophomore and Animal Science major, Chloe Colvin and a fur friend. Photo courtesy of Chloe Colvin.
The sophomore, however, is not clueless about companion animal functions. “I have learned from past events at my previous college, which did Pet Away Stress events, how much fun people have interacting with companion animals and how much [their mood] changes when they leave the event.” Colvin may be the perfect student to plan SAC’s Pet Away Stress function, considering how her major has an emphasis on companion animals. “Last year I took a class [on] small animals. With pet visits everyday, I really got a good sense of the companionship small animals can bring to us. Especially [after] how important they become [once we] take care of them.”
“My purpose for this event is to allow students to wind down and pet away stress by interacting with dogs,” the sophomore explains. “I know seeing furry animals makes [my] day better, and I hope it will be the same for other students. I hope students come in with a positive attitude and openness to the dogs. I hope they take away the power of fur friends and that something so simple can make us feel so much better. I believe students who attend this event will learn about their personal stress management attitude.”
For more information about this event and others, please contact the SAC at uhhsac@hawaii.edu.
