If you’re enrolled at DePaul University, you’re likely amidst the chaotic quarterly ritual that is finals season. Plus, they’re all online? Because there’s a pandemic? It’s a lot to handle, and the student journalists here at 14 East feel your pain.

So, for this finals week, we thought it’d be nice to publish a morale booster. And what better way to do that than with pets?

So, without further adieu, we present to you 14 East’s furry (or feather-y) friends. We hope that as you plug your way through finals, this article can serve as a brief reprieve from it all. Enjoy.

Maude, the yellow lab

Hannah’s yellow lab, Maude.

Our goofy, adorable and lovable yellow lab, Maude, joined our family a little over 3 years ago. She was a trained and practicing service dog, and now goes to work with my step dad at an alternative public school as a certified therapy dog. Her job might be to comfort students throughout the day, but when she arrives home she can’t stop moving, hence her nickname – wiggle-butt. Though she lives in Minnesota with the rest of my family, it’s where she belongs  – in the snow and on adventures in the woods.

          Hannah Coyle, Social Media Editor 

Maggie and Magellan, the parakeets 

Justin’s Parakeets, Maggie (left) and Magellan (right)

These are my parakeets Maggie (left) and Magellan (right). Though they sadly stayed at my parents’ house in Springfield when I moved to Chicago, they’re still my pride and joy. A lot of people underestimate the appeal of a pet bird. They’re colorful, energetic and musical beings that take over the space they’re in, despite living their lives in cages. My favorite thing about my birds is that they’re partners, and it brings me joy to watch them cuddle each other and get into the inevitable avian marital spat every now and again.

         Justin Myers, Event Coordinator

Irie, Chespi and Kayla, the dynamic trio

Each of my dogs, the late Irie, Chespi, and Kayla, have been in my life since I started mixing my Spanish and English. I remember Kayla coming out of my dreams because I woke up on the second floor of my grandparents’ house to a black and white dog right in my face. It felt surreal after waking up in the afternoon to sunlight filtering through the curtains with my parents standing near the front door. I remember adopting Chespi from my mom’s coworker whose house was in some southwest Illinois suburb. My sister and I welcomed our new family member by opening our trunk with a blanket inside for comfort. We kept the same form of transportation and comfort from taking the late Irie out of the house. Irie came as a surprise from waking up from a deep slumber as Kayla did five years later. I woke up to hear movement against metal coming from our dining room which was an arm’s length away from my room. I pushed open the door, and I found Irie in a crate standing up and looking right at me. The moment captured the feelings of having a dog for the first time. As excited as I was about having Irie as the head of security and the vessel for all of my emotional breakdowns, all of our memories together came into my head when she passed away this month. I’m thankful for having Irie put her head at the end of my bed when I needed emotional support, hovering around the front door when she needed to go outside, and consistently keeping us company for over 13 years.

       Emmanuel Flores, Social Media Editor at Pueblo 

Stevie, the cat (who apparently can read?)

This is Stevie, but we call him Steven when he’s especially rambunctious. My three roommates and I adopted him at the beginning of quarantine. He’s very feisty and enjoys swatting at the tv and taking long naps on the couch.

        Elly Boes, Associate Editor

Lucy, the (very old) chocolate lab and Sylvester, her cat sidekick 

Lucy has been a part of my life since I was about 9 years old. My parents actually took her in from a friend, who found her as a stray, just days before our previous dog passed away. And the more I think about it, the more astounding it is just how much Lucy has been by my side for. When we were kids, she ran around the neighborhood with my sister and I until the sun set. She made us feel safe on weekday latchkey kid afternoons. As a teenager, I can remember hugging her oh so tight as I cried into her fur through the trials of adolescence: fights with friends, getting cut from the soccer team, my first break-up. When I’ve come home for breaks throughout college, her excited barking and tail wagging always makes me like she remembers me, even though at 14 (we think), she’s almost completely blind. And through it all, her demeanor remains the same: relaxed, affectionate and really, just happy to be here.

Sylvester is her beloved sidekick. My family adopted him, also as a stray, when we wound up on our doorstep during Hurricane Matthew in 2016. You see how he’s posing in this picture? He does that constantly, I swear. He is quite literally always waiting for someone to come around and take a picture, and rewards you with purring and brushing his cheek against yours in a way that’s so soft it’s almost… elegant? He does it to Lucy, too! I’ve caught him affectionately rubbing his nose into her chest and grazing her snout with his tail more than once. They may seem like an unlikely pair, but seeing eclectic cuteness via FaceTime is really getting me through this week.

        Francesca Mathewes, Editor-in-Chief