Student Jesse Hanson with his two dogs, Bane the Rottweiler and Albus the Dane. Photo credit: Jesse Hanson
By Lucas da Paz
IT’S exam time – and Murdoch University’s vet school is helping students cope with stress by parading man’s best friend.
The Paws for De-stress program, which runs every Thursday in the Geoffrey Bolton Library, gives students the chance to mooch with pooches and break away from the rigours of exam study.
About 9000 students will sit exams between November 11-25 which, according to Jenny Lai, manager of Exams and Assessment, equates to some 25,000 exam sittings.
Veterinarian student Jesse Hanson, 25, who has worked with dogs in similar programs such as Mental Health Day and R U OK Day events, believes that dogs are beneficial in helping students cope with stress from exams.
“The vast majority of people like dogs, and for those people, myself included, the presence of a dog is calming,” he says.
“There is no better way to de-stress from the hardships all students go through than a furry friend.”
Hanson told The Bounce that he wants to see more interaction with dogs and students on campus.
“Perhaps allowing students to bring their dogs to university in general, or organising more days or library time for students to interact with dogs, similar to programs like ‘mental health day’ and ‘R U OK?’ day would be fantastic for everyone.”
“Dogs feed off the emotions of their owners and vice versa; if you’re feeling down but meet an excitable, happy little puppy, your mood turns around and you can feel better again, if only just for the time you spend around it.”
When asked about how dogs being for de-stress compared to doing other activities such as music and games the 25 year old spoke of particular tastes and the emotions dogs give people.
“In regards to music and games, everyone’s taste is different. There are genres of both that will make some people happy, but not others. On the other hand, dogs just make everyone happy, regardless of the breed”.
How are Murdoch University students coping with the prospect of sitting the final exams? The Bounce finds out.