Our Students’ Stories - Serendipity Center

Serendipity Students’ Stories

Understanding both the challenges our students face and the successes they achieve is important to understanding Serendipity. Each student arrives with a deeply personal story, background, and experiences that deserve exploration and empathy. We’ve concluded the best way to demonstrate the impact of our program is through the success stories of our students, while being mindful of doing so in ways that maintain their anonymity and dignity.

Over time, we’ve created several ways to share insight into our students’ lives…

Through Stories

Actual stories shared by Serendipity therapists.

Through Drama

The script from a performance by staff readers and students telling the typical Serendipity journey.

Through Art

A gallery of portraits, entitled Portraits of Hope, capturing transformational healing.

Through Video

A sample of videos involving graduating seniors reflecting on their accomplishments.

Below are just a few specific examples of students that Serendipity has helped to become productive, positive members of our community. These stories were developed by our clinical team, based on their work with hundreds of children. All names and identifiable information have been changed to protect privacy.

Please click on any student photo to read their personal success story as a result of attending Serendipity.

In 2019, in celebration of Serendipity’s 40th birthday, the following story was enacted through student participation and staff readers at our annual event. It captures the typical journey of a Serendipity student, from first to last day of enrollment. We call it “I Am.”

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Also in celebration of our 40th birthday, Serendipity commissioned a local portrait artist, Jake Smith, to create pieces of artwork that tell the story of our children, and the healing that is key to our mission. The concept of this art project was to create four pairs of portraits, done in charcoal, with each pair communicating an emotional transformation. For example, students often come to us with feelings of aggression, isolation, despair– the emotional results of their trauma. Yet over the course of their time at Serendipity Aggression becomes Compassion, Isolation becomes Belonging, Voiceless becomes Empowered, and Despair becomes Hope. Each pair of portraits depict children experiencing these juxtaposed emotions through facial expression and/or body posture.

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Click to learn more about the portraits and the Artists

Over the years, several Serendipity graduates have memorialized their stories in video format. Hearing their reflections on the changes they’ve made and the goals they have attained help all of us celebrate what is possible when young people receive the support they need.