WOODBURY – It’s Saturday morning, and while most students use the weekend to recharge, some students are tending to something larger themselves: animals that depend on responsible owners for their wellbeing. 

You may think that pets are easy and simple but they definitely are not. 

Owning animals takes a lot of responsibility, so much so that it is almost like taking care of a toddler, they’re both fully dependent on you and you have to teach them the ways of life, like potty training, how not to bite people, and teaching them stay in their beds for kids–or rather, crates for dogs. All of these things take a whole lot of responsibility and you don’t just learn that overnight. For Nonnewaug students, these skills are life lasting. 

“Having pets has taught me that it’s quite similar to taking care of a child or another person,” says junior Kelsey Santerre-Piazza.

Regardless of what NHS students are caring for, owning an animal provides an invaluable experience for young people. 

“Owning animals has forced me to become a more responsible person because they are living things that rely on you and animals cannot take care of themselves,” says junior Rachel Kalmanovsky who takes a range of animals from guinea pigs, rabbits, and cats. 

It even comes down to just finding the energy to care for my animals, I mean, between school, homework, work, siblings, and other chores, it becomes challenging to find the motivation and time to do the things I need to do because when I finally have the time to do it, I don’t have the energy and I just want to sit around and do nothing.

“When they are in your care, it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, if it’s cold, if you’re tired, if you’re sick, or if you need to go away for a weekend, you need to take care of them,” adds Kalmanovsky. “They have taught me a big lesson on adulting.” 

Regardless of the species, learning to take care of living things isn’t something that’s taught in an academic course, but instead, this skill is learned through experience. 

“I mean not all animals are the same but they are all fully dependent on you and you have to teach them things and give them the care they need to survive,” adds Santerre-Piazza.

Caring for animals takes a lot, it all takes time, money, commitment, energy, respect and patience. No animal is the same, and each one takes its own level of care.

The main way teenagers or kids in general learn responsibility are like doing their homework or doing their small house chores or just even learning to choose from right or wrong, but with animals it’s so much more than that.

“My experience with animals starts in my childhood home,” says Jesse Hungerford, NHS’ vet science instructor.  “We had a slew of different animals at my house growing up, and it was instilled in me at a very young age that animals are living beings just as we are: with feelings, emotions, and needs. When you commit to owning any pet, you assume the responsibility to care for that pet and provide him or her with the best care possible.”

“Being a vet student has given me a greater appreciation for what you need to do to make sure that the animal you have is healthy and happy as it takes more than just food and water,” says junior and vet science student Bradyen Boisseau.

Food, shelter–these are just the basics. For NHS students, learning how to tend to a living creature is a critical experience. 

“As well as knowing how to perform a wide variety of tasks for the animals we have in the small animal lab and that you have to put in the effort to keep them all happy and healthy,” Boisseau adds. 

Name the species and it surely will have its own specific criteria for care. 

“For instance, taking care of a cat is much different than having to take care of a small flock of chickens,” says Santerre-Piazza. “Cats can go about doing anything for themselves aside from getting their food and water and they don’t need much attention to be happy, while chickens have to be given their food and water, and dogs need lots of attention, play time, and training.” 

Beyond caring for animals, NHS students understand that caring for all living things isn’t just a responsibility, but rather something even larger: something that high school students can take with them into the world beyond campus. Currently, Nonnewaug students don’t just hone their skills in caring for animals, but rather caring for plant life has provided students with opportunities to take charge of other living things.

“Taking care of the plants has shown me tons of responsibility. I believe the main thing I learned is effort and patience,” says senior Arabella Rosa, an ag student who takes care of the school’s animals and plants during school breaks and weekends. 

  “When I go to the greenhouse I individually water each of the plants which is really important because you wanna make sure they all get water and nothing gets missed. Once I’m done I always double check to make sure I watered everything and the soil is still wet and didn’t get dry already,” adds Rosa.

“When you commit to owning any pet, you assume the responsibility to care for that pet and provide him or her with the best care possible,” said Hungerford. “I have learned over the years that responsible pet ownership starts with thorough research. Make sure you understand and are able to support that animal through all stages of its life.”

This is an opinion piece written by junior Caila Palaia ’26.