Some students prefer traditional pets, while others care for more exotic types.
Photo courtesy of Valentine Cardona.
By Valentina Cardona
Leaving home can be an exciting but scary time for students. Knowing that days with family and close friends will be replaced with classes, homework assignments and late-night study sessions is intimidating and can be an overwhelming time in students’ lives.
According to a 2015 study by the University of Wisconsin, students who begin to experience feelings of homesickness “may begin to identify as someone who has anxiety and/or depression.”
To combat these feelings, many students decide to get a pet. Pets become a part of a new family and can be closest form of companionship for students during uncomfortable times and provide solace from everyday stressors.
“I got Grizzly when I left to Tallahassee,” Alex Silvestro said. “I was going to college in a different city and had literally no one while I was there.”
Silvestro experienced a difficult time moving to Tallahassee from Tampa as he completed his first two years at Florida State University. While he was able to make many friends and form close relationships with his peers, Silvestro still felt like he wasn’t entirely whole. After he became a dog dad to Grizzly the golden retriever, things changed.
Silvestro began to find purpose in life and Grizzly began to brighten the parts of Silvestro’s life that dimmed during his move, he said.
“Grizzly taught me how to love when I felt like I couldn’t anymore. I take care of him every day and he shows me unconditional love even when I don’t have the best days,” Silvestro said, flashing the wallpaper on his phone which displayed a photo of Grizzly wearing sunglasses, coming home for the first time. “I haven’t changed this wallpaper in eight years, and I don’t plan to.”
Silvestro has since moved back to Tampa and Grizzly’s golden fur has turned to gray, but their love has grown into a familial bond where Grizzly’s role has evolved from pet to son.
Forming a close bond with a dog can seem obvious but some students opt out of the furry critters and prefer scales.
McKenzie Koval is the “mother” of a Chinese Water Dragon named Vera. Koval moved to Tampa from Michigan to start a new life in the south. As an animal lover, Koval came with two of her dogs but decided to venture into the reptilian world and make Vera an addition to her family.
“She is so beautiful and so interesting,” Kovalsaid. “She loves to climb around in her terrarium and eats crickets and mealworms…for now…later she will eat mice, but I am not ready for that.”
Koval enjoys being Vera’s mom because it is entirely different from caring for her dogs. Vera’s environment consists of two large aquariums stacked on top of each other. The top is a terrarium with a hot climate and exotic plants for Vera to enjoy. The bottom is a tank with water and different pebbles and aquatic life for Vera to swim in. These tanks connect so the water dragon can choose their environment at their leisure. Koval excitedly shares future plans to eventually expand and enlarge Vera’s habitat into a large, walk-in terrarium.
While Vera is now a few inches long and will grow to be about 3 feet in size, Koval interacts differently with Vera than with her two other dogs.
“I don’t really cuddle with her,” Koval said. “I mean I love her … like the time that hurricane was coming we were packing all of our things, and I just wouldn’t and couldn’t leave without her. I told my boyfriend ‘WE ARE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HER!’”
It’s safe to say that Vera and Koval have a unique relationship and while furry cuddles and sloppy kisses may not happen, a loving bond between the two did.
Pets not only become a source of love and companionship, but they seal intangible wounds many students and young adults feel while taking a big leap in life. Being responsible for a living being and receiving unconditional love in return can make any struggle worth it and any place feel like home.
