We’ve all been there. We spend hours upon hours with eyes glued to a computer screen filled with squares of human beings. Many are visibly tired. Some are forcing a smile. Others have their cameras turned off, only represented by a grey screen with a name. Then suddenly, we are graced with the unexpected attendance of an adorable, non-human creature. The day becomes a little bit better and brighter.
Who can hold back a grin or chuckle when a curious cat or nosy dog inserts itself into our virtual classes? The furry, sometimes scaly friends of our Zoom peers have given New School students and professors a reason to authentically smile in a virtual and disconnected world.
The New School Free Press spoke with New Schoolers and their beloved pets. Stay tuned for more…
Skylar and Walter
Skylar Fisher-Duddy, a second-year Culture and Media student at Lang, rescued her dog, Walter, from Tijuana last summer with her family. “He’s a pandemic puppy. I actually don’t know exactly how old he is. I think we got him at like eight weeks old,” said Fisher-Duddy, who lives in Los Angeles with her family and three other dogs.
Fisher-Duddy faced some challenges after adopting a new puppy in a pandemic. “Walter likes to chew things and he chewed the arm of a leather couch. So trying to train a puppy in the pandemic has been kind of interesting,” she said.
Fisher-Duddy said that Walter is very attached to her and can be energetic, and so having him in Zoom classes has been quite the experience.
“[Walter has] been in my Zoom classes with me and jumping around in my room and stuff. He sleeps in my bed with me. So when I get up in the morning for my 7 a.m. class, he is right there with me. I like him to hang out, but sometimes he has separation anxiety and he wants to be in the class with me and that’s fine.”
Like most pets, the reactions of classmates towards Walter in Zoom classes have been positive, Fisher-Duddy said. Seeing people’s homes and pets over Zoom has made the college experience a bit more personal than before, she said. “Everybody wants to know, like what’s his name? What kind of dog is he? It’s just kind of fun because we never got to do that with our peers. Now that we’re doing these Zoom classes you’re seeing into people’s homes, seeing their pets. It’s fun.”
Fisher-Duddy also said she has had professors stop class for a pet introduction. “One of my professors was like, ‘Oh my God, Skylar, introduce us to your dog.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay!” Fisher-Duddy said.
Whenever classes return to in-person, Fisher-Duddy said that Walter will not be joining her back in New York City. “I wish I could take him with me, but I don’t want to take away his lifestyle from him,” she said. “Like L.A. versus New York is just really different in terms of property and having space for him. And I feel like the whole routine of having a dog in L.A. versus New York is so different. And so, yeah, [I’m] super sad. But I know I will see him on FaceTime and it’ll be fine.”