There’s no question that finals week is stressful. Having to take multiple exams and finish time-intensive final projects can lead to one feeling extremely anxious. But it’s important to budget time during finals week to de-stress. If you’re too overwhelmed, your classes can negatively affect your mental and physical health.
Luckily there is one solution to reducing finals stress: spending some time with some cute, furry cats and/or dogs!
If you have a pet at home, you probably already know that spending time with your cat or dog can help you feel more calm and less stressed. As it turns out, multiple studies on animal-assisted therapy lead to the same conclusion.
Petting a cat or dog can actually promote “the release of serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin,” hormones that can lead to an elevated mood. That’s why pets can play an important role in lowering anxiety and helping people relax.
But pets benefit more than just your mental health.. Evidence shows that they also have a positive effect on your physical health too. Being around pets can help those who are anxious slow down their breathing.
So now that you’d learned all the benefits of spending time with cuddly pets, where do you find them?
If you have a friend who owns a friendly cat or dog, send them a message to ask if you can head over to their house to de-stress. Chances are, your friend will have no problem with this! And you’ll get some time to hang out with friends you haven’t seen since midterms season.
You could also try heading to the on campus shelter run by Cal Poly’s cat program. The shelter is run by volunteers and does not currently have regular operations hours, but you can send contact them at cpcpscheduler@gmail.com to schedule a visit to the shelter. Spending time with cute, purring cats could be a great way to de-stress from finals.
Or you could visit Woods Humane Society, which is only 10 minutes away from campus. This animal shelter cares for a number of dogs and cats at its facilities, so there’s plenty of options whether you’re a cat lover or a dog lover! You can ask Woods’ volunteers or employees to meet individual animals. This one-on-one time will benefit you because you get to de-stress, and the adoptable animal gets to practice socializing with strangers. (And if all goes well, maybe you’ll end up adopting the pet and taking them home!)
As you head into the busiest part of finals week, keep this de-stress method in mind. It’ll be a welcome change from just simply taking a break by scrolling through Instagram or eating another vending machine KitKat. Afterall, cuddling a cute puppy or an adorable kitten can only brighten your day and help you relax and recharge before tackling your exams!