I always thought my college friends were exaggerating when they described finals week as hell.

I am now a freshman and I now know better: it really is hell. (Hello stress my old friend.)

There are five classes I have to study for and five classes I have no idea what's going on in, and I'm not the only one feeling this way. Stress is only to be expected at this point.

But then I went on Snapchat in my quest to set a world record for longest procrastination period ever, and I saw that my friends' schools have been visited by therapy dogs, for the sole purpose of relieving students of stress as they brace themselves for finals.

I almost threw my phone across the room, I was so jealous.

It's finals week now, and maybe it's too late to bring in some puppies whose furs we can cry into as we slowly have a meltdown from all the pressure, but the argument still stands that therapy dogs are a really good idea for stressed college students. Studies have shown that anxiety and depression are on the rise among college students, with over 11% being diagnosed with or treated for anxiety and over 10% for depression, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Over half of college students are overwhelmed by anxiety that can strain their academic performance, as observed by the American College Health Association. So, therapy dogs.

They don't even have to be dogs at this point. Cats are fine, as are rabbits. Any sort of fluffy, cuddlesome creature will do, and it's not just me: studies have shown that pets can alleviate depression, reduce anxiety, and decrease stress levels, providing a much-needed relief for college students, who are among the most stressed people in the country.

Of course, dogs remain the ever-popular choice because unlike cats, who are assholes (lovable, but ultimately still assholes), they soak up all the love you give them and are affectionate right back at you. They'd have to be certified therapy dogs, of course, since bringing in every random dog on the street probably wouldn't go over too well with the administration (not that I'd mind), but the bottom line is that colleges without therapy dogs on campus right before and during finals week are missing out.

It's not just students who will benefit from having therapy pets on campus, too. There's a reason why therapy dogs have become so popular at colleges, and one of the biggest reasons is the low cost. Most university pet therapy programs are free of cost for students and more or less free for universities too. A large number of the dog handlers are volunteers who bring their own pet-therapy certified dogs to campus, receiving no pay and costing the owners little aside from, say, parking fees and registration fees for training their dogs.

I just walked out of a nightmare of a French final, and I'd desperately like to cuddle a dog right now. So why not go for pet therapy, if it's so affective and yet so cheap?