First, we buy textbooks. We form study groups. We join organizations. We take tests. We write essays. We go to the library. We call our moms. We attempt to have a social life. We stay up late. We binge watch. We are college students.<\/p>\n
The modern college student is found buried beneath these responsibilities, and many others. It seems that new items are added to our to-do lists every hour. There is no escaping the chaotic reality that we have found ourselves in, but there is sure-fire way to make your hectic days a little brighter. You could get a dog.<\/p>\n
Initially, this idea may seem intimidating and a little bit irrational. The thought of adding an additional responsibility on top of your already over-flowing plate gives you a headache. You frequently forget to eat between your classes. How could you remember to feed a dog? These panicked reactions are valid, but they do not compare to the rewarding experience of owning a dog.<\/p>\n
Becoming a dog owner while in college has many benefits.<\/p>\n
First, having a dog is like having a built-in best friend. Except this friend doesn\u2019t get mad when you don\u2019t text them back, and you will never have to meet them for over-priced coffee dates. A dog is a best friend that is always there for you, partly because they live with you, but mostly because they are loyal companions.<\/p>\n
Second, a dog will love you unconditionally. They do not care if you fail your test, miss your 8 a.m. or forget to respond to two classmates on a discussion board. Despite these fumbles, they will still greet you at the door with their tails wagging.<\/p>\n
Third, having a dog forces you to go outside. You can no longer sit inside watching Friends <\/em>and avoiding the sunlight. Dogs require an ample amount of exercise and social interaction with other dogs. Fresh air and vitamin D are just as important for your health as they are for the health of your dog.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n As I write this column, my own dog is laying in bed next to me. She is asleep and snoring obnoxiously loud. In a few minutes, she will wake up and bark at me to take her outside. I will have to stop what I am doing to take care of her needs. This may seem like an inconvenience but witnessing her overwhelming excitement from simply mentioning the word \u201coutside\u201d is nothing short of rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First, we buy textbooks. We form study groups. We join organizations. We take tests. We write essays. We go to the library. We call our… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[167],"class_list":["post-1232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"authors":[{"term_id":167,"user_id":15,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sprinkles-kelby","display_name":"Kelby Sprinkles","avatar_url":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/589b2a7f865123bf180131ac912a679b.jpg?ver=1776216587","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1234,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232\/revisions\/1234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1232"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}