Daily Deacon

Creatures of Comfort by Annabel Love

First glance at Molly with her tail wagging and chocolate puppy eyes staring at you, and this dog will have your heart (even if you are a cat person). Molly, a three-year old terrier, stole Julianna Miller’s heart and changed her life for the better.

Juliana struggles with severe anxiety and depression and when interviewing her she said, “before Molly I was not in a great place. I was overbooked, overworked, stressed, and not happy.” Her therapist was helping her talk through her problems, but she was feeling as if that was not enough. She would wake up unhappy and go to bed with a pit in her stomach. She needed something else. Something that would make her want to wake up and feel loved and appreciated. During the interview, she said, “this past semester was especially really challenging because all of my friends were studying abroad and I felt lonely and isolated at Wake.”

Her doctor suggested that she look into getting a dog on campus. He said that it might make her happier and he has had success with other patients getting therapy dogs. She has grown up with three dogs and they have always helped her with her anxiety in the past so she was open to the idea.

She went to Residence Life and Housing to get the dog on campus approved and she said that “it wasn’t an easy process but I qualified for it and it was something I really wanted to do, so it went along fine.” Juliana is not alone in this quest for using therapy pets to help relieve anxiety and soothe her depression. When talking to Residence Life and Housing at Wake Forest, Adam, in charge of animals on campus, has noticed an upward trend of animals as therapy pets on campus. He mentioned “there has been more and more people with service animals on campus.”

After getting her dog on campus, her mood slowly but surely started changing. She was feeling more positive, energetic, and loved. Molly “gave me purpose and forced me to take time for myself. She makes me so happy, right when I walk through the door,” Juliana said with a smile on her face just thinking about her four legged feline friend.

Her suitemate, Courtney Toll, noticed differences in the way Julianna was acting now that she had Molly. “She was just so much happier and whenever she walked into the suite, Molly would run up to her and it would put the biggest smile on Julianna’s face,” said Courtney Toll. She talked about how high Molly’s energy is and how that positivity has helped Julianna. “Molly has been the best thing to happen to suite 301, I even love petting Molly when I have had a bad day,” said Courtney.

With the help of Molly, Julianna’s mood has changed for the better. She has said that it has even changed her Wake Forest experience. I love taking Molly around because “people usually just walk around with headphones in or busy on their phones. It’s nice that Molly gets strangers to sop and smile or even start up a conversation.”