I chose to look into how therapy and emotional support dogs benefit the mental health of teenagers for my capstone project because I have struggled with mental illness for my entire life. In sixth grade, I was diagnosed with anxiety, OCD, and depression, and have dealt with those illnesses ever since. I was put on medication and my parents brought me from therapist to therapist, but the therapy never really benefited me. Although I got through this stage in my life eventually, therapy was not a big help. Something that helped me was my own dogs. They were always there for me and never failed to put a smile on my face, no matter what I was going through. They truly were able to relieve a lot of my mental health symptoms and they still do today.  Then, growing up in Jackson, I was exposed to the polar pups and started to see the effects that those dogs had on other students and myself. It was amazing to see how the dogs affected the school's environment and how they made so many people smile. It made me realize that dogs can benefit other people mentally as well. During my junior year of JAGS, I knew wanted to do my project on something surrounding therapy dogs and how they benefit mental health because it was so important to me. During the completion of this capstone, I was able to learn so much about how dogs can benefit students mentally in school, and how they can benefit patients in therapy. I enjoyed doing this capstone and I am very glad I chose this topic.