What if the university had a panic room filled with cats?

Now, hear me out. I recently adopted a kitten as big as a French croissant and with the attitude of Ken, from the Barbie movie. She is the most dramatic living being and I absolutely adore her. What I have discovered during these first days with her, is that the myth that "cats will help you fight mental illness" is not actually a myth: Whenever I feel like I might have a panic attack, I gently scratch her back and she starts purring. Then, the stress and anxiety that were pervading me instantly leave my body.

Moreover, the purring sound calms my head, and I love the sensation that I am making my kitten so happy that she starts purring. According to science, petting a cat reduces the levels of cortisol in your body, decreasing your heart rate, slowing down your breath and calming your anxiety as a consequence. There is a black cat which always wanders around the garden between Drift 25 and Drift 21, and I have noticed that at least three out of five students always stop to pet him or talk to him in a baby voice as he follows them. Imagine if the university would adopt a number of kittens from Cyprus (there are a lot of them in Amsterdam, all vaccinated and looking for a home after being saved by volunteers), hire someone to take care of them and allow students to book hours in a room filled with cats when they are having a rough day. Something like a cat café, but with a self-service coffee machine instead of an actual barista, and tables to sit and study.

In my opinion, students' mental health would improve, and the number of study-related panic attacks per day would drop. Most students do not really share or show how stressed, scared, and anxious they are, as the typical answer we tend to receive is something along the lines of “You chose this study yourself,” as if most adults did not feel anxious because of jobs they chose themselves. Everybody can feel stressed, it is not a competition, and everybody’s feelings are absolutely valid and should be taken into account. I am perfectly sure that teachers feel scared too sometimes. Maybe they even feel unseen, as their role in our lives is to guide us throughout our studies and show us how passionate they are about the subject they are teaching. But I think that presenting or giving a lecture gives you an uncomfortable amount of exposure to the people you are teaching. So, teachers should be allowed in the cat room as well.

I am perfectly aware that this silly dream will never come true, but imagine how genuinely cool and comfortable it would feel to be comforted by kittens in need of love and attention. Maybe I will open a cat café/bakery/library/flower shop myself someday.