Stressed students can become teacher’s pet...
STRESSED out at university? Pet a dog. That’s the finding from a new study: students who are intimidated by lectures and seminars do a lot better when they have a session with a therapy hound than when they are given classes in coping skills. Hmm.
Putting aside the fact that anyone who can’t cope with lectures and seminars shouldn’t actually be at university in the first place, is this really the right animal to turn to? Dogs are, ahem, a little needy and insecure. Here’s some advice from a therapy cat, instead:
When moving in to student halls, make sure to mark out your territory. If you are sharing a house, do not be afraid to demand exactly as much space as you need and if that impinges on anyone else, so be it. It might help to make your point if you squirted some sort of air freshener in your territory. A soft growl if anyone oversteps the line does wonders.
Stressed out? Have a nap. In fact, have a nap anyway. Don’t like your flatmates’ decorations? Wait until he or she is elsewhere and then accidentally knock them off the bookcase. Hungry? Belligerently demand food now and then when it arrives, turn your nose up at it. That’ll keep them on their toes!
Your lecturers criticise your essay? Give them a nasty look and walk away. Take criticism badly, but don’t be afraid to dish it out. Don’t forget the importance of grooming yourself and if that means you spend several hours in the communal bathroom, well, it’s important that you look good. It raises not only your own morale, but the well-being of everyone lucky enough to look at you.
Don’t feel like going to a lecture? Well don’t! Have another nap. In fact, have another nap anyway.
Find a spot in the sun and bask in it. It’s essential to keep those vitamin D levels topped up. Don’t overdo the catnip but treating yourself regularly, say daily, will do wonders for your well-being. If you want something, ask for it. Loudly.
When looking in the mirror, feel free to purr. More than one housemate? Why not play them off against one another? It’s always fun when no one knows where they stand!
THEN AGAIN… Cats are manipulative, selfish, selfobsessed, wilful and domineering, all traits which make them adorable but are intolerable in actual human beings. So maybe think again.
But back to the therapy dogs. My favourite story on this subject dates back to 2018 and Twiglet the Jack Russell, who arrived at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, to help the students cope with exam nerves. The poor animal was so much in demand for walkies… that she became stressed out and had to be relieved of her duties.
Woof woof!