As we count down to Commencement, we’re spotlighting the Class of 2025—sharing stories that go beyond the cap & gown and reflect the heart, hustle, and hope of our graduating Gulls. Learn more about Antoni Reyes ’25, Ashley Allen ’25, Tyler Williams ’25, Grace ’25 and Lucas Wlodarczyk ’23 M’25, and .
Dakota Svec ’25 is on a mission to break down the social stigmas around intimate partner violence and create a safe space for fellow survivors.
At just 18, Svec found herself in an abusive relationship marked by emotional manipulation, coercive control, and isolation, as well as multiple forms of verbal and emotional abuse. After the relationship ended, she experienced ongoing harassment, stalking, and intimidation. Despite the frequency of these types of cases of emotional control and abuse within intimate relationships, Svec, like many other young survivors, struggled to recognize the abuse as it was happening.
“I used to think abuse was when you get hit or assaulted, but that’s not the kind of abuse I experienced,” she explained. “It was a lot of coercive control, very emotionally manipulative, and I was young and thinking, ‘I just don’t think he’s that nice to me.’ It never crossed my mind that those microaggressions, small instances of physical violence, and acts of manipulation and intimidation all qualified as abuse.”
A creative writing course with Professor of English Dan Sklar became an unexpected turning point, giving her an outlet to process complicated emotions. “Through the work in that class, I was getting out everything I had been suppressing, and that made me realize, okay, there is a time and a place and an outlet to share feelings like this,” she said.
A communication major, Svec used her writing to express her emotions and wrote a poem about being unable to recognize herself after surviving an abusive relationship. Sklar connected her to the Somerville Times, which shared the poem and gave Svec her first publishing credit.
“It just opened the door for me [to share that part of myself],” she said.
Then, a sophomore-year environmental studies class got Svec interested in social advocacy.
Through the Endicott Experiential Edge, which connects students with internship opportunities and alumni in their industries, an advisor introduced Svec to an internship with MK Prevention Services. Founded by preventative education professional Mya Kermelewicz ’21 M’22, MK Prevention Services provides workshops to empower communities and prevent dating violence and sexual assault in high schools and colleges.
“As soon as I heard what [Kermelewicz] was doing, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s absolutely perfect,’” said Svec.
Early in her internship, Svec was eager to publish blog posts and create other content but insisted that Kermelewicz needed to start a podcast.
“You need things that young women can turn to,” Svec said, adding that she couldn’t find resources like that as she was trying to understand and heal from her own experience with abuse.
Kermelewicz agreed but said she couldn’t launch it alone. So, they teamed up to create Dear MK, a podcast focused on breaking down stigmas and having open conversations about consent, prevention, and forming healthy relationships. Even after completing her internship, Svec remained co-host, forging a strong bond with Kermelewicz through their shared mission to spread awareness and validate every individual’s different experiences.
“Our goal was to destigmatize all of these conversations and make them not taboo—just to be able to have normal conversations about these things for our audience,” Svec said. “It is a common thing that so many women go through, and it made me want to make sure that no one else was in the position where they didn’t know [that their relationship was unhealthy or abusive].”
As of this article’s publication, they have released two seasons of the podcast.
“It’s not something you learn in school,” she continued. “You’re not taught about what healthy and functional relationships should be … when you’re young and doing all these things for the first time, it’s hard to know.”
During her senior year at Endicott, Svec interned at in Salem, Mass., where she learned from experienced advocates who support survivors in crisis. This experience deepened her commitment to prevention, making her realize that her true passion is spreading awareness and educating individuals before they end up in harmful situations.
“It was a lot of listening and being present in the environment and hearing how all these professionals can advocate for survivors,” she said. “It felt like I was supposed to be there. It was a full circle moment.”
After graduation, Svec plans to start a preventative education career and continue with the with the goal of reaching a large enough audience “to normalize the conversations that can prevent these issues.”
She continued: “I want to be on the informative side of this issue that can prevent abuse from ever happening. I want to be in research to understand the social and systemic patterns that contribute to domestic violence and issues of gender equality in general.”