SFU will host its second annual “Why I Served” storytelling event on Sunday, June 7, at 2 p.m. in the Connors Family Fine Arts Center.
The event brings area veterans together to reflect on the moments that led them to military service.
This year’s event will feature 10 veterans who will each share 5-to-10 minute per-sonal stories exploring their decision to enlist, their experiences in the military, and how those moments continue to shape their lives today.
Organizers say the goal is to create a space where veterans can share stories in their own words while helping audiences better understand the meaning behind military service.
Art Remillard is one of the organizers of the event. He is dean of the School of STEAM and a professor of Religious Studies at SFU. Remillard served in the Marine Corps from 1992-96.
“Every veteran has a story to tell about why they chose to serve,” Remillard said. “They’re all interesting in their own way.”
Remillard said the idea for the program developed through conversations with alumna Mary Anne Majestic, who wanted to create a space for veterans and the community to connect through storytelling.
Leading up to the event, veterans participate in a workshop where they are paired with storytelling coaches who help them identify central themes. They then shape these themes into structured narratives. This workshop took place on April 25 at the Fine Arts Center.
“The hardest part is figuring out what is most salient,” Remillard said. “Then you distill everything around it into a story with a beginning, middle and end.”
Senior Management major Shane Graziosi served in the Marine Corps. He participated in last year’s event and is returning this year to assist as a storytelling coach.
Graziosi said the process encourages veterans to move beyond listing experiences and instead focus on the meaning behind their service.
“You start to realize that other people also went through it,” Graziosi said. “You don’t really take into consideration the effects it has.”
Graziosi said returning as a coach has given him a new perspec-tive on storytelling, as well as the broader military community.
“I feel like I’m part of the whole community now,” he said.
Retired Navy aviator Mark Kohort will participate in this year’s event. He said the workshop process has challenged him to condense his experiences into a single meaningful narrative.
“You have to distill everything and make it compact,” Kohort said.
Kohort served for 26 years. He said he hopes the audience that attends the event will understand that military service is often shaped by purpose and direction that develops over time.
“There’s a path,” he said. “And if you follow that path, it takes care of itself.”
Remillard said storytelling is central to the event’s impact.
“It is enlightening, surprising, beautiful and sacred,” he said. “Sometimes a single conversation can give someone closure. That alone makes it worth it.”
The event is open to all who are interested in attending.
