College is a very difficult time in any young person's life. You tend to go through not just breakups but heartbreaks failed exams and courses; who you are as a person changes and develops. The world as you knew it is different, everything has changed. You now have to pay bills which means you're working full time, taking a full course load, and hopefully trying to have some sort of a social life. It is becoming harder and harder to go home and see your parents, you miss your family more than anything. It is exhausting.

Handling change is tough. People tend to change and grow the most from the time they're 18 throughout their 20s. You go from an easier life living under your parent's roof breezing your way through high school, to having some kind of responsibility but living on your own, to just being thrown in the deep end and you're screaming for a lifeline. You just want something to stay constant.

Adopting a puppy my junior year was the best decision I ever made. I was going through a devastating heartbreak and I felt like my world was crumbling down. She was that lifeline. She gave me a reason to get up every morning and go outside. Now that we are growing together, she is still giving me a reason to get up. I may be exhausted from working all day, then coming home to cook dinner, and then having to write a 10-page paper but she is there to help me through it. She looks at me with her big eyes and cute ears and plops her ball in my lap. She knows I need a break and she's ready to play.

When I need sleep she is always there to cuddle with me. When I'm too stressed and just break down and cry, she's there to lick my tears. When I need companionship, she puts her paw on my hand. When I need to go for a walk, she already has the leash ready. When I just need to rant, she has a listening ear. No matter what my dog is always there for me.

Taking care of a dog is not easy work, it is expensive, and it takes up plenty of time. If you do not have these things to spare, please do not get a dog as they need to be treated well and loved just like you. However, if you need that reason to get up, you can come home on your lunch breaks, and you have some spare tennis balls laying around, I highly recommend it. I can honestly say I would have fallen into a state of depression without my dog but she has saved me. She is my family who is always there and makes me feel at home when I need it most.