My documentary subject is Animal Assisted Happiness, a Bay Area-based organization that seeks to better the community through its animal-based interactions. My choice of this subject was heavily influenced by my experience volunteering at the organization, which I had to quit due to my eczema and allergies. And now, even though I am a volunteer elsewhere, BGCP, I still fondly remember my time volunteering at Animal Assisted Happiness. So, when I was lacking inspiration in finding a subject, I remembered  Animal Assisted Happiness and knew it would be a wonderful subject to document. And through initial research, I realized that many in the community cannot see that they are so much more than a petting zoo, but a pillar of the community, compelling me to explore this subject further.

My research paper is organized into three chapters. More specifically, the chapters focus on the founding story of Animal Assisted Happiness, the therapeutic impact of animal interaction on disabled children, and the real consequences of the petting zoo misconception. Within the paper,  I explore how the organization has quietly changed lives, while remaining misunderstood by the community it chooses to serve. So,  I hope readers walk away knowing that Animal Assisted Happiness is not just a petting zoo, but a strong, necessary resource for the community.

For my documentary magazine article production, I utilized the same color scheme from my Design book, which you will see later. Also, I utilized the same graphic elements and the same images as they worked well in my book, compelling me to reuse them. For my photos, I composed them within circles to blend smoothly with the text, and I used fences, which helped maintain my Table of Contents as lines to make headers more visible.

Nicole Puccelini is the Programs Director at Animal Assisted Happiness, helping oversee the organization as a whole. She began as a volunteer at Animal Assisted Happiness, but after some years, she now works for them, helping spread their services through the greater Silicon Valley community.

Seamus Quillinan is a veteran special education teacher in the Bay Area whose work centers on helping students build independence, confidence, and practical life skills. Through his work at both Santa Clara High School and Mountain View High School, he has helped guide his students as they seek life outside the classroom.

In terms of Animal Assisted Happiness, before this project, I did not understand the depth and complexity of the organization, partially just seeing it as a one-dimensional animal farm where kids go to pet animals. Yet, with my research and interviews with individuals heavily involved in Animal Assisted Happiness, I realized that it’s so much more with kids speaking their first words at the farm, becoming more social, gaining valuable life skills, etc. From English, the creative freedom given to me to write helped motivate me to complete my project, and show myself that what I write can be important. Through my Design elective and Digital Media class, I utilized the same skills to create my own physical product. This introduction of a new software I’ve never touched challenged me. But the creative freedom I was allowed allowed my abilities as a developing designer to flourish. So overall, I’m very proud of what I accomplished, on top of the other rigorous classes I am taking.