October 6th, 2023 changed my life forever. I never imagined to finally get my first dog after begging my family for one since the age of 4. Due to things out of my control, I was never able to own any type of pet besides a goldfish. That day, my girlfriend and I ran into Walgreens to buy period pads or something in that manner. After checking out, we got into the car and I noticed my girlfriend had a newspaper in her hand. I immediately grabbed it from her and as I was looking through it, I ended up on the dog page which is usually found toward the end of a newspaper. The first thing I noticed was a photo of three little puppies side by side. The first little dog to catch my attention was all brown and black in the face. She reminded me of a racoon. My girlfriend and I called up the number in the newspaper and asked if there were still puppies available and if we were able to come and see them. A woman picked up and told us there were still two available. With no hesitation, We immediately went to the address that was listed in the paper. Conveniently, the place was only a few minutes away from campus. When we got to the house, the woman opened the door and that same puppy that I fell in love with in the newspaper locked eyes with me and gave me a little head tilt. From that second, I already knew she was the one. We didn’t know if she was still available prior to showing up there. To our luck, she was there. Our intentions that day were to just go look at them and leave. I picked her up and right away, she started kissing my entire face. I remember my girlfriend asking me if she could hold her and I responded with “NO”. Simply because I was so in love with her and it had only been about five to ten minutes of meeting her. I didn’t want to put her down. The second puppy that was there was gray and white. She had a more smushed, shih tzu face. I picked her up as well but there was no connection there. I looked at my girlfriend and told her “I want her.” I did not have any cash on me but my girlfriend being the amazing woman she is, brought cash with her because she knew I was going to fall in love. She indeed did end up buying her for me. When we got back into the car, I started bawling tears. I couldn’t believe that this actually happened. On the way back to campus, we were trying to come up with a name for her. We wanted to name her something that matched with her colors. This was also the beginning of my girlfriend and I’s relationship therefore, we were still getting to know more about each other. I immediately suggested the name Hazel Grace and my girlfriend looked at me and went “from the fault in our stars”? She picked up on the reference and that is how Hazel Grace got her beautiful name. Her name is special because we both made the connection that day that “The Fault In Our Stars” is both our favorite movie. It’s been almost a year of having her and my inner child has been healed. All those years of wanting a dog. A companion. A furball to love, spoil, and cuddle with. My dream finally came true. Having her here on campus with me is one of the things that keeps me going everyday. If anyone is thinking about getting a dog, but worried about not having time to care and provide for it. Take it from me, it’s 100% possible and manageable. Once you find a routine that works for you, everything else falls into place. You also have someone waiting for you after you get back from your classes, clubs, your job or anything else you’re involved in. The feeling of walking into my house and my little Hazel getting the zoomies because she’s happy I have come home is a feeling I wouldn’t trade for anything. My girlfriend and I both always say “best 300 dollars ever.” It indeed was well worth the money. That three hundred dollars healed my inner child, gave me my absolute best friend, and quite literally made me the happiest girl in the world.
 Below is a link of photos of the day we got Hazel, pictures of her as the months went on, and some very recent photos:)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n4bUjoG-a499c3V9whvPaogbzc_yxfeAJKjOrKhy5AE/edit