Many students brought their childhood treasures with them when they came to UP
Sophomore Rachel Reddick cuddles her stuffed cat named Oscar. Reddick said having her stuffed animal helps her from feeling homesick for her own pet cats. (Jackie Jeffers | The Beacon)
By Kate Peifer, Staff Writer -- peifer14@up.edu
They were there to comfort you while you slept and they were there to dry your tears when you wept, but no one said stuffed animals had to stop comforting you once college began.
Like many students at UP, sophomore Sara Tellez brought her beloved stuffed animal to college, unwilling to give up that one piece of her childhood.
"When I came to UP, my mom asked if I would bring Ted, and I asked, 'What kind of question is that?'" Tellez said, laughingly.
Ted, a teddy bear who sports a patriotic vest, continues to provide the same joy to Tellez now as he did when she was a young girl.
"We've been together for so long I don't even remember the initial introduction," sophomore Tellez said. "But every childhood memory I have, Ted's there. It's a mystery."
Sophomore Laura Andrich also never questioned whether her black bear, Tuki, would be joining her in the dorms and recalls her dilemma last semester.
"I left Tuki at home over Thanksgiving break," Andrich said. "So my parents took a picture of him and over-nighted him to me. They knew I couldn't be without him."
Tellez appeciates that Ted is always there for her.
"I can always talk to him," Tellez said. "He's a good listener because he's not going to tell me I'm wrong."
Stuffed animals hold sentimental value and childhood memories and they also allow students to have the comfort of a pet without the responsibility.
"You can't have pets in college, so it's the poor college student's version of a pet," sophomore Elena Pettycrew, owner of Appa, the flying airbison, said. "You don't have to feed them but can still pet them."
As for sophomore Rachel Reddick, having Oscar the cat, makes up for leaving pets at home.
"We have five cats," Reddick said. "Oscar was my mom's but when I went to college, I got cat sick, so she let me take Oscar back with me after winter break."
Sophomore Justin Barrieault's stuffed Jedi Master, Yoda, represents an obsession with his favorite saga Star Wars.
"Well, I was slaying the Sith one day and Yoda was helping me," Barrieault explained. "As I was about to be taken down by one of the Sith lords, he saved me. We've been friends ever since."
Tellez plans to keep Ted with her forever, bent ear and faded fur aside.
"(Ted) has been morphed to how I love him," Tellez said. "I don't know how long he'll last but I'll keep him as long as possible because he's one of those treasures from my past."
Sophomore Lauren Weerts with her teddy bear Angela-Sue. (Jackie Jeffers | The Beacon)
Sophomore Amanda Ewing (left) with her stuffed lamb Baby Lamby and freshman Emma-Kate Schaake (right) with her stuffed bear. (Jackie Jeffers | The Beacon)
