Being in Berkeley, California is a special feeling, something that makes your lungs feel fresh and your heart warm. The city continues to grow on me the longer I live here, feeling like home even if my time here is temporary. It’s a feeling that I love to share with my friends and peers who also adore this city, as well as family who visit and get to see Berkeley through my eyes.
But there is one being that I love sharing this place I call my current home with more than anyone else. My best friend and loyal companion: my dog, Suki. I got Suki when she was a puppy during my sophomore year in high school. She stayed in my home with my family for my first two years at university, during which I missed her terribly, but she’s now been living with me in my apartment since this summer.
To be completely honest, being a college student with a 70 pound golden retriever isn’t easy, and I certainly haven’t been able to sleep in much any day of the week. My schedule is all over the place to make sure Suki doesn’t feel cramped or abandoned while I’m out. But all the “cons” are easily outweighed by the fact that I get to experience the remainder of my university life with my best friend in the whole world.
Suki is the greatest company I have, despite not being able to communicate with me, because I know her love for me is as unconditional as mine is for her. She’s just happy to be with me, which is something that really warms the soul. Seeing the joy she gets out of our daily walks is a sight that can lift my spirits even after the hardest of weeks. Despite us taking practically the same route every day, she manages to make an adventure out of it, and how could I not enjoy witnessing that?Â
Taking Suki out morning and night to get her exercise has been great for me. Not only do I get exercise even when I’m balancing deadlines, since I can’t let Suki miss her walks, but I’ve been able to wander through the more suburban parts of Berkeley. Despite living downtown, there were neighborhoods in the further reaches of Berkeley that I’d never seen or explored.
The entire city has such a beauty to it, something I’d taken for granted before I started taking dedicated time out of the day to enjoy my surroundings with Suki. With how much time I spend on devices each day, whether it’s for school or personal reasons, there’s something refreshing about putting the phone away to give Suki my undivided attention on walks, at the park, or cuddling at home.
Having a dog is hard. It’s a lot of work and it certainly isn’t cheap. But despite all that, it’s easily the greatest joy of my life. It’s something I’ll never regret doing as Suki definitely increases my quality of life, and I can only hope I do the same for her.