Buzz. Buzz. It’s 7:30 a.m. at Ohio State University. Lauren Delfunt wakes up to her alarm and kisses from her Service Dog, Jack.
Delfunt gets up and begins to get ready for her day, knowing she has her first class at 9:10 a.m.
Once she’s ready for the day, she heads outside with Jack before heading to the dining hall for breakfast.
Delfunt, a junior pre-med microbiology student, says her schedule “looks pretty much like any other college student”, because she’s had her Service Dog for so long that everything is just routine for the two of them.
At the dining hall, Delfunt dives into her pancake breakfast before class, while Jack lays quietly at her feet. She then heads to her first class of the day, immunology. Once there, she sets her things down near her desk and sits on the cold metal desk chair, ready for class to begin. Jack lays at her feet, patiently waiting to help Delfunt if she needs him.
After her immunology class, she heads straight to her next class of the day, biochemistry. Once her biochemistry class concludes for the day, Delfunt is able to give her Service Dog a break from working, allowing him to play and greet other students between classes.
When Jack has had a break to play, Delfunt calls him back to her and heads back to where she started her day, the dining hall. There, Delfunt spots her friends at a nearby table and sits with them for lunch.
After lunch, she and Jack head to their last class of the day, virology. According to Delfunt, this class is much smaller than her other classes, so she is able to be more relaxed regarding Jack. She says there are times when she allows her classmates to interact with Jack in class.
“I tend to let people in the smaller classes [pet him] because it gets overwhelming when everyone asks in a huge lecture hall,” Delfunt said.
At the conclusion of virology, Lauren and Jack’s day on campus is complete and they head back to their dorm for the night. But being back at their dorm doesn’t mean their day is over.
Delfunt works as a Resident Advisor on campus, so she is often on call in the evenings, or completing rounds, which she takes Jack on as well.
She says at times she struggles with students wanting to pet or play with Jack, especially when she is on call as a Resident Advisor for her dorm. She attriutes the struggle to the fact that she lives where she works, since she is a Resident Advisor.
I think people have trouble realizing he’s working even when we are home
-Lauren Delfunt
Delfunt hasn’t always had Jack while in college, and she says much of the progress she has made is because of having him to mitigate her disabilities.
As a freshman, Delfunt’s roommate had a Service Dog In Training living with the two of them. Through this experience, Delfunt was able to help with the dog’s training and realized she has conditions herself that could be mitigated with the help of a service dog.
Once she graduated high school, Delfunt kept in contact with her high school guidance counselor who happened to have a son with the same condition as Delfunt. She contacted Delfunt saying she would like to give her her son’s Service Dog as he didn’t work out for him but might for Lauren’s needs.
Jack and Lauren became a team during her sophomore year of college and he has completely changed Delfunt’s life.
”I went through 12 years of school, never sat in a cafeteria, I didn’t really have friends, I was too scared to go anywhere by myself because I would want to stay close to my house in case I had a panic attack or a meltdown,” Delfunt said. “He gave me back that independence and let me find that joy in connecting with people,” she added.