An avid dog lover, Holly Ness ‘19 (Theater) began volunteering with Believet Canine Service Partners in her sophomore year, and later became an employee through her community-based work study award. Believet was started in 2015 by Sam Daly, a longtime dog kennel owner who served several tours in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor alongside the U.S. Marines Corps. Sam was responsible for training dogs to search for threats, such as roadside bombs; to help keep their handlers safe in the warzone; and to provide joy and companionship in a stressful environment. Sam recalled the moment when they returned to their U.S. base in 2013 and seeing the dogs immediately taken away from their handlers, service personnel whom the dogs had forged deep relationships with during their tour. Sam shared that many of the Marines wished to adopt their dog, but for him–he wanted to adopt all the Marines who had just lost a beloved companion. It was this emotional scene that compelled Sam to take his skills and knowledge and put it towards a “higher calling to connect with this [veteran] community.”
Here’s where the organization’s story and Holly’s story connect, too. Holly shared that “Believet has had an enormous influence on me since my time here at St. Olaf. As a result, I knew that I wanted to use my Theater Independent Research project to give something back to them, promote their message and spread awareness.” Under the supervision of Assistant Professor Michelle Gibbs, Holly utilized her previous conversations with clients of Believet and other local veterans about their re-entry experiences into civilian life and its effects on their mental health to form the basis of her IR final project, a one-act play called Still Growing: A Tail of Hope. The play was presented both on-campus and off-campus at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater. To further give back to the organization, audience members were encouraged to give a donation to Believet.
The play showcased the lead character, Alex, struggling to live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its effects on others in his life. Tackling this serious subject manner was tough, though. Holly described the tension between spreading awareness and having the audience leave with a specific, respectful message with also wanting veterans to feel comfortable and enjoy the production. Holly credits her constant contact with Sam, her community advisor, for helping to make sure it didn’t come off as pitying, infantilizing, uncomfortable, or offensive. As she was developing the material, she also continued to spend time talking with other workers and clients of Believet in order to give her a broader perspective on many different people’s experiences with PTSD. Holly emphasized that while the play was a theatricalization, “everything that happens over the course of the show was based off conversations that I’ve had with veterans in and around Northfield.” Another challenge was simply having a student actor portray the lead character’s struggle “on stage and in a body that had never experienced the lasting impact of trauma,” as Holly put it. To help with this, Holly did in-depth research on the subject and talked to her many contacts and her IR advisor. Most importantly, she spent a lot of time with the actor “talking, experimenting, and deciding the best way to approach that aspect of the role. I think we found an effective way to handle it in the end that translated well to being on stage.” Overall, Sam shared how he admired how “she dealt with a very mature, serious subject but incorporated such humanity in it—the comic relief with the grandmother who can’t cook, the annoying teenager, and the eccentric psychologist.”
Through the experience, Holly can’t imagine not having worked directly with her community partner. Sam agreed, stating that “the great thing was the civic and community engagement part of it. Doing a performance at the Northfield Arts Guild was fantastic in addition to the St. Olaf performance for broadening the message and creating awareness, as well as accomplishing her academic goals.”
So she might have come to Believet for the dogs, but she is leaving with so much more than that. Sam shared how this whole project “played on her own personality and leadership skills,” the latter “boding well for her down the road no matter what she does!” As Holly wraps up her time here at St. Olaf, she points to her experiences, this project, and the awareness towards Believet’s mission and its impact on the veteran community when she says “it’s all Still Growing. We never stop growing and improving, and I hope to embody this and continue this work after I leave St. Olaf.”
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