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Service dog trained to work in a chemistry lab gets her own special award at graduation

She even had to learn to wear PPE.

Simple Thought Productions/salad_and_crouton/Instagram

Cecilia Hernandez and her service dog Canela during commencement ceremony at Rollins College.

One of the most gratifying parts of graduating college is getting to walk across the stage during the commencement ceremony to collect that hard-earned degree. And for Rollins College student Cecilia Hernandez (@salad_and_crouton), who studied chemistry, her walk across the stage was side-by-side with her beloved service dog, Canela, who helped her accomplish her studies in the chemistry lab.

During the ceremony, Hernandez wasn't the only one recognized for her hard work—service animal Canela was also presented with a special patch in recognition of her outstanding support. The sweet moment was captured on video, which included a heartfelt speech from the school's dean.

"My service dog received a special patch for her vest in recognition of her hard work at graduation," she captioned the video.

As Cecilia's name is called to accept her diploma (she graduated Cum Laude), the dean gives a heartwarming speech to also honor Canela. "In addition to presenting Cecilia with her diploma, we also wish to recognize the service companion who who has accompanied her throughout her Rollins career, Canela," he says. "Cecilia majored in Chemistry, which required Canela to undergo special training to prepare her to join Cecilia in the laboratory. I am very pleased to present this service badge to Canela, in recognition of her contributions to Cecilia's success at Rollins."

In the post, Cecilia shared more details about how special Canela's role was to her. "Having a service dog in chemistry is nearly unheard of. It required many, many training sessions just to get her used to wearing PPE," she wrote. "As I did research for an undergraduate thesis, this required even longer days in the lab. I am beyond grateful @rollinscollege provided such a wonderful campus and community, allowing me to thrive with my service dog by my side."

In another video shared by Hernandez, she gave a behind-the-scenes look at graduation day for the duo. Together, they wore matching grad caps, and Canela also received an award from Rollins' Chemistry Department for her work.

Hernandez previously opened up to her followers on social media about how she was initially paired with Canela. "In 2021, I had a rough start to college. I had undergone emergency surgery and struggled with my health," she shared in the video's caption. "To help, I got Canela to help navigate my disability."

The video pans to Canela as just a puppy. She continues, "We began training. She took to it very quickly. Eventually, she became a full time service dog. However, having a service dog in chemistry can be difficult."

In the commen section, Hernandez explained just what Canela's training to be in the chemistry lab entailed. "She needed to be trained to wear her PPE at all times in the lab. Most dogs struggle with wearing garments. Also she needed to have a very solid 'stay' as she needs to lay on a mat in the lab. (The mat just protects her from any potential contaminants on the floor)," she shared. "Additionally, just in general, she had to learn how to do medical alerts while wearing said gear. So how to get my attention without causing a distraction."

After overcoming difficulties, Hernandez never gave up on her dreams of pursuing a career in chemistry. And her hope is to advocate for more representation and accessibility in STEM.

And viewers of her graduation video with Canela cannot get enough. "Canela is looking around 'what? Like it's hard?' a la Elle Woods💕," one commented. Another added, "Stacked with cords and everything!! Get it girl!! Congrats and good luck with all your endeavors!! (Please give Canela extra pets for me!)." And another touched viewer wrote, "🙌🙌 yay congratulations to you and your pup you two are gonna go places and achieve so much."

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Equality

People shared their experiences encountering insanely rich kids for the first time

"Her parents used to call her and check on her because she 'wasn't spending enough money.'"

avia rkoi / Instagram

Are they out of touch with reality or just living in a different one?

Most people grow up going to schools where people are of a similar social status. Lower-income people tend to grow up with people in the same situation and affluent people usually grow up around people who are rich as well. But things can change dramatically in college. People who are from completely different sides of the socioeconomic spectrum attend class together and sometimes wind up sharing the same dorm room.

One student can be there on a scholarship and have a part-time job to make ends meet. The other may be on a massive allowance from their parents who pay full tuition without batting an eye. What exacerbates the issue is that many people go through college dirt poor. If they have a job, it's often low-paying, they can't work many hours and they aren't old enough to have accumulated any wealth. According to the Lumina Foundation, a nonprofit based in Indianapolis dedicated to providing "opportunities for learning beyond high school" for all, 47% of today's college students don't have or rely on parental support, and of those students, one in four live below the poverty line.

The differences are stark. So stark that seeing one of your peers wasting other people's hard-earned money can be downright stupefying. It can also seem highly immoral for some to have so much and not appreciate it when others are struggling to get by.

College is also a time when people begin to learn about income inequality and why it exists.

college students, income, inequality, socioeconomic status, richIncome inequality becomes more obvious in college. Image via Canva.

In the summer of 2020, freelance journalist Jake Bittle started a fun conversation on Twitter where people shared stories of some of the insanely rich kids they knew in college. Many of the responses came from people who went to the University of Chicago.

Bittle's story started with seeing a girl open her laptop to reveal a ton of money in her bank account while they were taking a class on Marxism. The tweet inspired people to share stories of the insanely rich kids they met in college and how some of them were terribly wasteful with their money.

(Jake has since deleted his original tweet.)


shock, rich kids, college, students, socioeconomic spectrumDonald Glover Reaction GIFGiphy


facepalm, insanely rich kids, rich, college studentsJudge Judy No GIF by Agent M Loves GifsGiphy


One thing really becomes apparent when reading all of these Tweets: the severe lack of financial literacy among the college students in these anecdotes. According to EBSCO, over 40% of college students are "still not equipped with adequate financial literacy knowledge and skills." This also touches on the correlation between student debt and financial literacy. A 2024 study from Auburn University published by the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) notes that students with more than $100,000 in student debt especially lack "adequate financial understanding," exacerbating the student debt crisis.

student debt, student, finances, financial literary, rich, poorThe student debt crisis affects millions.

No matter what side of the socioeconomic spectrum these students hail from, it's well known that schools do not take the time to educate students on real-life skills like taxes, banking, budgeting, etc. before they head out into the world. Even if a student's affluent family hasn't wised them up to how money works in the real world, imagine how much better off everyone would be if we were required to take financial literacy courses before we hit adulthood?

This article originally appeared five years ago.

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Friendship

8 friends rally around nervous college student, helping her get ready for her first date

He picked her up with flowers.

erinv.log/Instagram

College girlfriends help friend Avery get ready for first date.

There are few things more nerve-wracking than going on a first date. But when you have a big group of supportive girlfriends who are there to help you pick out your outfit and do your hair and makeup, you know everything is gonna be okay.

And that was just the case for Auburn University student Avery (@averyy_ayers), who was featured in her friend Erin's (@erinv.logerinv.log) sweet video that captured her girl squad rallying around her to put her at ease and make her feel beautiful for her first date.

In the video, Erin documents how 8 girls crammed into a tiny dorm room to help Avery prep. "first date YAY!!!", she captioned the post.

The video begins with Avery trying on a number of different outfits for her friends, who all offer their opinions on if it is 'the one' or not. After trying on at least 5 different outfits (that got the 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' from the group), there is a clear winner: a colorful, floral smocked dress that she paired with sandals.

The girls are having a blast together, dancing and playing games while Avery continues to get ready. The fun and relaxed atmosphere helped put her nerves at ease. Next, one of her girlfriends has Avery sit in a chair to do her makeup. Then another friend does her hair using a curling wand to give her pretty waves. Once her look is complete, she gives her friends a twirl and they all clap for her.

glamGetting Ready Canadian GIF by Shay MitchellGiphy

The camera follows Avery as she leaves the dorm room and goes into the stairwell to make her way downstairs to meet her date, her nerves clearly ramping up. She meets her date outside, who is sitting on a bench waiting for her with flowers. He also put some effort into his outfit to look nice, rocking a white short sleeve button down and khakis. When he sees her, he stands up and goes to give her a hug. Of course, her girl squad is watching from the dorm, and she turns around and waves to them, showing the flowers with a big smile.


floweGive I Love You GIF by Jimmy ArcaGiphy

And viewers are loving the support of Avery's friends and her date's sweet efforts, too. "The vibes of a freshman college student living in the dorm rooms with all her best friends are immaculate! This is perfect!" one wrote. Another commented, "FLOWERS ON THE FIRST DATE? YESS SIR 🔥🔥🔥." Another wrote, "And he put effort into his outfit / looks so put together too!" And another viewer shared, "this is so girlhood ❤️😭 i can tell by her smile that she is just the BEST person to be around!! hope it went well! :)"

Thankfully, Avery did not leave viewers hanging. She gave multiples responses when asked in the comment section how the date went. Spoiler alert: it was a total success. When one viewer commented, "We need an update", she responded, "date was 10/10". And when another commented, "She has such joy. It is beautiful. How did this work out for her?", she also replied, "it went great!!"

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Joy

Professor accidentally starts viral online university that anyone can attend free of charge

What was meant to be an introduction to her actual class turned into a movement.

Photo credit: Canva

College professor accidentally starts free online university

Everybody has an embarrassing moment or two in their lifetime. It's impossible to be human and not make a hilariously embarrassing mistake but it's not every day that a humorous blunder turns into something that could be life changing for others. Recently a college professor, Dr. Leah Barlow created an introduction video for her class TikTok account.

But instead of her sharing it to her page privately, it went out in the main TikTok universe where strangers started asking questions. You know, all the normal questions a professor might receive, "where can I find the syllabus," "how do I access the discussion board." Except these weren't her students, these were just random people who saw her introduction on their For You Page and were determined to make a good grade.

"Hello everyone and welcome to introduction to African American Studies for the spring semester. My name is Dr. Leah Barlow. It is cold outside but I really wanted to quickly get on and just show my face, introduce myself, share a little bit about me and the course ahead of your homework being due tomorrow and whatever else I post over the remaining of the semester," Dr. Barlow says in her now viral video.


She goes on to explain how the class works including that she teaches the class chronologically backwards starting with recent moments in history first. The class is informed that their grade is made up of quizzes, discussion board posts, midterm and final exams. The formality didn't deter people on TikTok from assuming she was offering a free course so they introduced themselves in the comments along with asking how to properly participate.

This is when the good doctor using TikTok to connect with her Gen Z students realizes her faux pas. She set her page to private and removed everyone that wasn't actually registered for her college level course without realizing she started a movement. Many people think of TikTok as this app for teenagers to do dances and create silly trends, but there are a lot of highly educated professionals on the app. They saw the interest people had in learning and decided to offer their own courses for free.


Many of the people offering courses are current or former college professors, teachers or experts in their field. Several of the creators possess a PhD, doctorate or a master's degree and they quickly put together classes complete with a syllabus and reading lists. Within just a few days of Dr. Barlow's accidental TikTok introduction, the creators had organized to form a centralized online unaccredited university, completely free.

The "official" name of the university is HillmanTok University, the mascot is a black panther and there's already a administration to help enrollment run smoothly. There will be no fancy acceptance letter or dorm decor to shop for, and getting enrolled is as easy as following the instructor of the class you'd like to take on TikTok. Some professors are utilizing TikTok live for instruction and discussions while others are using Zoom, Google Meet, Patreon or Substack. The instructors are mindful of the cost of learning so much of the material they list is free online or through a local library.


Thousands have flocked to "register" for classes through HillmanTok University with so many registering it crashed the Discord server that is used for study groups, advising, tutoring and more. The classes are open to anyone interested in learning, with some professors handing out grades. You may be curious about the course selection. It's extensive and you can view the list on a Google Doc that lists over 100 classes.

Students of HillmanTok University can take classes ranging from Personal Finance 101 to Intro to Pilates. There are Spanish classes for non native speakers, American Sign Language classes, as well as classes on emotional regulation. There's a class for just about everyone, and yes they're free. There may be a few instructors that put their classes behind a paywall on a site like Patreon but overwhelmingly many are simply volunteering their time.


The reception to this impromptu university has been extremely positive from those that have higher education and those that have always wanted to go to college but couldn't. In fact, the reception has been so positive that Dr. Barlow is now also offering to teach a free version of her course at HillmanTok University.

This just goes to show that when people put their minds to something, they can create magic, and those who want to learn will find a way. Good luck to the inaugural spring semester of HillmanTok University. You may not walk away with a degree, but the knowledge, community and experience you'll gain will be something to carry with you forever.

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