The graduating class was just the second group of veterans to participate in the new offering from ASAP. The nonprofit, which grew out of the William & Mary Center for Veterans Engagement, also runs standup comedy and improv classes for veterans in D.C. and Hampton Roads, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The programs offer a way to help reintegrate veterans and their families into civilian life through the arts, said ASAP Founder and Executive Director Sam Pressler. Classes focus on the craft \u2014 both writing and public speaking \u2014 with the additional bonus of social support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also believe in the power of stories and the power of performance to humanize,\u201d Pressler said before the graduation show. \u201cToo often, we as a community sometimes view veterans on this polarized spectrum from hero to broken, and it\u2019s a lot more in the middle of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are people, but there is this awareness that there\u2019s this whole other depth of experience that (veteran students) potentially bring to the table that our typical student doesn\u2019t have,\u201d Garibaldi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Sebastian Munevar, that was the loss of a comrade, who died in an explosion moments after Munevar himself had walked over the mine that killed his friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Mike White, it was the moment he realized a wounded, emaciated Taliban soldier he captured likely hadn\u2019t realized what he\u2019d signed up for, much as White hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for Jake Boggs, it was a 29-year Navy career that ended in 2015, five years after a cancer diagnosis hindered him from meeting the required milestones to get promoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I retired, I was pretty much caught flat-footed. I thought, \u2018What the f— is happening?\u2019 I felt anger, pissed off, disappointed \u2014 hated everyone, couldn\u2019t relate to anyone,\u201d Boggs, 49, told the audience during his performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019d imagined retirement as a chance to sit in his underwear and eat Cheetos all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, it was more like a \u201cblinding fog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe structure that I had been used to for so long was gone,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cIt was a little hard for me because I was one of those few guys that never married while I was in the military. I replaced a family of my own for a military career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therapy has helped, Boggs said \u2014 the \u201cblinding fog\u201d is now more of a \u201clight haze\u201d \u2014 and when he found out about ASAP\u2019s storytelling program, he, like Feroah, saw it as opportunity for self care, as well as a chance to practice skills that may come in handy if he starts his own business someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Army veteran Maureen Elias, 40, also took the class to get a leg up in the civilian world by learning how to be more engaging when she talks. She said she practiced 15 to 20 times a week for her story on her youngest child\u2019s autism diagnosis \u2014 especially moving because Elias\u2019 two older children are also on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been working to become a national mental health advocate, and (a friend) said, \u2018Maureen, I love you, but you\u2019re boring,\u2019\u201d Elias said. \u201cI\u2019ve taken the class to try to liven my voice a little bit so I can hold the attention of those congressmen and women when I\u2019m begging them to give me things that the veterans need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elias also appreciated the opportunity to learn how to better convey her military experiences to civilians who don\u2019t share her background \u2015 starting with the class instructors, to whom she\u2019d have to explain military acronyms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt gives that translation of not only what we did but what it felt like,\u201d she said. \u201cIt gives civilians the opportunity, the chance, to step into our experience and feel and share those emotions with us, which can then sort of break down some of that hesitancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pressler came to that realization as he was reading the book \u201cTribe,\u201d which sparked the idea for ASAP\u2019s storytelling program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout history, he said, the veteran has taken on the role of a storyteller. It\u2019s the community\u2019s responsibility to listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new D.C. workshop helps veterans reintegrate into civilian life through storytelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":74899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":9,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["education-transition","veterans","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"education-transition"},"5":{"categories":["education-transition","veterans","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"education-transition"},"6":{"categories":["education-transition","veterans","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"education-transition"},"7":{"categories":["education-transition","veterans","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"education-transition"}}},"categories":[9,142,35,25,146],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3414],"class_list":["post-67403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-transition","category-education-report","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-retirement-e-report"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MYWSJ6UCA5DTFOR7JHL3EPIIGU","arc_canonical_url":"\/education-transition\/education\/2017\/12\/04\/veterans-sharpen-storytelling-skills-through-new-arts-program\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n
The six-week Storytelling 101 program was led by Story District instructors Joseph Price and Stephanie Garibaldi. After the students brainstormed ideas, group discussions centered around the main idea of the story they wanted to tell, as well as the obstacles they encountered along the way. They had a chance to practice telling their stories to each other in one-on-one and group settings, getting feedback on the flow and whether they\u2019d left any loose threads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7836.jpg.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7883.jpg.jpg\")