A Student’s Perspective: Tara Black Gives Maggie All The Credit

Tara Black is a student who remembers her Roxy Therapy Dogs visits with Maggie over the years. In her letter, Tara gives Maggie all the credit for her success in school;

Tara and Maggie

One of my favorite memories in elementary school is the Roxy Therapy Dogs program. I remember always looking forward to Maggie coming in. All it took was for Maggie to walk into the classroom to make my week.

By the middle of fourth grade, I was kicked out of three Hebrew schools because I couldn’t read Hebrew like the other kids did. They were all impatient with my slow growth. Throughout elementary school every single academic year was a struggle. I remember most kids wanted D.S. Nintendo while all I really wanted was to be in a “normal” classroom. I struggled immensely with reading, writing, math, and even speech. Something I strived for was to be like everyone else.

With Maggie, that is when I realized being like everyone else wasn’t what I wanted. Why be in a normal classroom when I can be petting a dog and reading? Maggie didn’t care about my mispronunciations or the words I couldn’t pronounce. She simply cared about who I was. She made me feel special because, at the time, I felt doubted by everyone but my parents.

And for that I can’t thank Maggie enough. Today I’m in all “normal” classrooms, making mostly A’s and B’s. I’m not the greatest student but I still put 110% effort into everything. I’ve been working at a movie theater for over a year now and I absolutely love it. At the moment I’m waiting to hear from Penn State, I want to pursue Radiology. My success would not possibly be happening if it wasn’t for Maggie.