Since the beginning of last fall semester, I have been living at college with my cat, Earl Grey – and it has tremendously impacted my life as a student.
Most colleges including Williams have a policy that forbids pets, but I by law am allowed to have Earl live with me because he is not just an ordinary pet; he is my registered Emotional Support Animal (ESA). By law, Williams allows me to keep him here because he was prescribed by my therapist in order to improve my mental well-being.
There are many misconceptions and half-truths floating around about ESAs, so I want to set the record straight on what life with an emotional support animal is like. A lot of people think it’s a trained dog/cat but it actually is just a pet – it can be of any species, as long as it’s manageable and whose presence helps improve the symptoms of an individual’s mental condition. All that is required to make a pet legally recognized as an emotional support animal is a letter signed by a licensed therapist/mental health professional. This is all that is legally required, but I had to go through a lengthy and tedious process with Williams regarding additional documentation – it took about 6 weeks for me to receive an approval. Every school has different policies, however, bringing an animal to campus is usually a big to-do.
There were many things that made me feel the need to have an ESA. I have always struggled with mild depression and anxiety, but my symptoms became more severe once I started my freshman year of college. At first, I was really excited to start school; I made friends right off the bat during orientation. I was excited to join new clubs, and I was looking forward to enjoying what a liberal arts educations had to offer. However, as the semester drew on, some pretty devastating events happened both academically and personally. Long story short, I eventually felt that Williams was not the safe, fun, happy campus that I saw advertised. I felt so unhappy, that there was even a point when I was considering transferring.
Things turned out significantly better in the spring, as I started to meet some truly wonderful professors, established a couple of really strong friendships, and gained more clarity of what I wanted to pursue academically. Nevertheless, Williams College still left a bad taste in my mouth.
In all honesty, college is not an ideal place for an introvert with social anxiety. My anxiety in social situations was typically quite mild, but it became a greater issue in college because of what a great culture shock this environment was for me. As as a non-athlete girl who is half Dominican, from a low-income background, and from a relatively average public high school, I found it hard to relate to many of the social groups on this campus. Since coming here, I have felt a sense of isolation and loneliness no matter how hard I try to connect with most people.
I was talking to a therapist over the summer about my anxieties towards going back to school. In Mid-July, my family rescued a kitten that someone had abandoned on our doorstep (literally). As I quickly grew very attached to this cat, I asked her about the possibility of bringing him to school with me, as I heard about other students at Williams who have ESAs. Given my symptoms, my therapist agreed that I would benefit a lot from the companionship of an ESA, and so she signed my letter.
Since I brought Earl to campus with me this year, my college experience has changed dramatically. His mere presence soothes me and helps me pull myself together when anxiety and depression hits hard. Every day, no matter how well or badly my day went, I come home to a companion who loves me unconditionally. All of the fears I normally have when socializing with people I never have to worry about with Earl – I know that I’ll never come off as boring, uncharismatic, awkward, stupid, etc. Since he’s an animal, he only sees me for who I am at the core. He loves me because he senses the positive energy within me – and also because I’m the one who gives him food and treats!
Of course, living with a cat in college isn’t easy. Owning a pet, in general, requires a great deal of responsibility, and it can be particularly overwhelming for a student living in a college dorm. Thankfully I was able to get a decent-sized dorm this year, but it is still a relatively small space, considering that most pet owners live in an apartment or house. There’s plenty of space for Earl to run around and play, and all of his bedding and supplies fit right under my bed. I was afraid that Earl would become depressed staying confined to a dorm room after spending the summer in a full-sized house with five other cats, but perhaps because he was so young, to begin with, he adjusted almost instantly and has been acting like his happy old self ever since.
One of the biggest responsibilities of having a cat is changing the litter. For just one cat, you have to change the litter box at least once daily. This has been tedious for me since I live on the fourth floor of my dorm building, but hey, walking up and down all of those stairs to get to the trash room has definitely kept me in shape!
My vacuum has also become my best friend since I’ve started living with Earl. When owning a cat, it is essential to keep your room clean and tidy. This was a big challenge for me because I have always been guilty of having a messy room, and I still am far from a neat freak, but being in charge of taking care of Earl has forced me to become a more organized person.
On the upside, having a cat is definitely lower maintenance than having a dog in college. I love dogs, but I knew that caring for a dog would push me beyond my comfort zone. Cats are fairly independent creatures; as long as you keep food and water in their dish and change their litter daily, they can be left alone for long periods of time without any worry. Still, like dogs, cats can be pretty needy. If I haven’t been in my room all day, Earl immediately greets me with a meow, rubs up against me, and tries to climb on top of me for cuddles. Just as it is Earl’s job to keep me calm and happy, it’s my job to ensure that he receives lots of love, pets, and playtime.
Overall, taking care of an Emotional Support Animal has its challenges, and for some people the added responsibility would certainly do more harm than good for their mental health – if you are considering whether having an ESA would be right for you, it is important that you thoroughly talk it over with your therapist and deeply consider the pros and cons. In my cases though, having an ESA has been a life changer in the best possible way. Earl’s companionship helps me feel so much more at home at Williams than I used to feel. Of course, he hasn’t completely cured my depression and anxiety, but Earl has given me the support and confidence that I need to cope with day-to-day challenges of college life; whether it is social drama, stress about papers and exams, loneliness, or homesickness. He is helping me become the best person that I can be, and honestly, now I can’t imagine getting through Williams without Earl. Every day I think about how thankful I am to have him as my college buddy!