Too much stress before finals? Hug a duck!
May 1, 2023
By Bob Holmes
It鈥檚 not often you hear someone on campus say, 鈥淒on鈥檛 let the duck get away.鈥
That was a bit of a concern as a duck was passed from student to student. And so was a rabbit. And a guinea pig. Each animal was gently stroked and cuddled by the students. And that was the point.
Just days away from finals week, the petting zoo outside the Rossi Student Center was a stress reliever sponsored by Psi Lambda Delta that also included goats, a lamb and amiable old dog named Ruger.
Dizayuh Hinton, the president of Psi Lambda Delta, which includes many majors, said the organization had first considered a bouncy house, but thought the from Lexington would be more relaxing and better fit into their purpose of providing for good mental health.
鈥淲e feel the students just needed to relax and get the stress out 鈥 people are holding animals and honestly, this is a great sight to see,鈥 Hinton said.
Stroking a guinea pig for the first time in her life was freshman Trinity Gregory who giggled as she described the hairy brown critter in her arms as "fluffy,鈥 and was 鈥減retty sure鈥 the stress of finals was instantly diminishing.
Meanwhile, senior Ingrid Ferrari from Brazil was passing along the rabbit to a fellow student. 听听
I have literally petted every single animal and carried all of them 鈥 but not the pig. I did not carry the pig,鈥 Ferrari said with a laugh. 鈥淭he days before finals are just so stressful. It鈥檚 just great to pet some animals and get some stress out,鈥 she added.
Check out for a video of the petting zoo.听
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