Students seeking to alleviate their stress flocked on Thursday to Miller Hall to play with therapy dogs visiting the Hill.
Miller Resident Advisers (RA) ChelseyOtt and KamdenSegawa, who are both sophomores, organized the event, collaborating with volunteers from Dogs Building Opportunities for Nurturing and Emotional Support (Dog B.O.N.E.S.).
The Massachusetts nonprofit uses trained therapy dogs to provide social support for a variety of populations, from nursing home residents to children in hospitals to stressed college students, according to B.O.N.E.S. volunteer Joyce Cooksey, who works in a team with her cocker spaniel.
The B.O.N.E.S. dogs are popular among students throughout the Boston area, according to Cooksey, who said the dogs will be visiting Boston University, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology later this month.
Therapy dogs visited campus for the first time last year, and Ott and Segawa chose to host the event this year after witnessing overwhelming support for the animals last year.
Miller RA Nimish Shah, who helped organize the event last year, said that the goal of the program is to alleviate students' stress during the hectic academic weeks of midterms and finals. Shah, a senior, put on three events last year and said each was a success, attracting over 200 students and rotating four to six dogs every hour.
This year too, hundreds of students bustled in to the Miller Hall first−floor common room, vying for their turn to interact with the dogs.
A golden retriever named Barkley entertained students with his ability to give "high fives" with his paws, respond to the word "down" written on a piece of paper and assume a "sleep" position on command.
Several students took pictures and videos of the dogs with their cell phones, exclaiming how much they missed their own dogs at home. Others were disappointed that the "puppies" were not actually puppies but rather full−grown dogs.
B.O.N.E.S. dogs must go through training sessions in order to become therapy dogs, and they are therefore usually older, according to Shah.
I was expecting puppies, but these dogs are still great," Colleen Golja, a freshman, said.
The dogs' age did not seem to distract from most students' enjoyment of the event, and some participants affirmed that the event was an effective means of alleviating stress during this stressful academic period.
"It's a nice, relaxing way to de−stress but it also doesn't take up a huge amount of time," Rebecca Allen, a sophomore, said. "And besides, everybody loves dogs."
Cooksey said that the most rewarding part of being a Dog B.O.N.E.S. volunteer is seeing the happiness that her pet provides to others.
Cooksey's dog certainly did bring a smile to the faces of the students who got to cuddle with him, as freshman Jonathan Paradise can attest.
"This event absolutely made my day," he said.
