Dogs Relieve Law Students' Stress
April 29, 2013
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Feeling frazzled? Uptight, not all right? Never fear: Help is on the way in canine form. Spend some time petting and playing with therapy dogs and feel your blood pressure return from the stratosphere. Soon your fists will unclench, your bloodshot eyes will clear and your spirit will savor a sense of well-being hitherto unknown in the middle of finals.
Welcome to the University of Baltimore School of Law's "Stress-Free Zone," which will be held in the law school lobby, 1415 Maryland Ave., on Friday, May 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event, organized by John Baber, editor-in-chief of the University of Baltimore Law Review, will feature friendly dogs that will help you relax and unwind.
"Dogs are great stress relievers," Baber says. "The simple, loving gaze of a pet can make a semester's worth of strictly scrutinizing your outlines fall into perspective. As students at UB, especially 1Ls, enter into a period of emotional unconscionability called finals, it's essential that people take a bit of time to focus on their own well-being instead of future interests in fee simple absolute. The Law Review, along with the Student Bar Association and the Women's Bar Association, are honored to help support a two-hour review session on mental health. The outline is simple: I. Show up in the lobby of UB on Friday between 11 and 1. II. Pet a dog. III. Immediately feel calmer. IV. Ace your finals as a result."
Vicki Rummel, Pets on Wheels' executive director and Central Maryland coordinator, arranged for seven therapy dogs to visit the law school’s Stress-Free Zone with their human volunteers. Students will be able to play with and spend time with the dogs. Meanwhile, the Women's Bar Association will hold a bake sale in the lobby during the event. Funds will benefit Saving Grace Animal Rescue, which was founded by UB law student Lauren Sanders.
Baber was instrumental in gathering support for the event from student groups, notes Emily Rogers, assistant director of law placement at the school.
"Without him reaching out to student organizations, we wouldn't have been able to provide lunch to students or the volunteers," Rogers says. "And, more important, we wouldn't have the funds to make a donation to Pets on Wheels, a wonderful organization that provides therapy animals across the state to various universities, hospitals and nursing homes."
The Stress-Free Zone is co-sponsored by the University of Baltimore Law Review, the Law Career Development Office, the Student Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association.
Learn more about Pets on Wheels.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.