Sara Feinberg

Sara Feinberg

Age: 25

My Place in the World
Research Analyst at Ipsos in Seattle, Washington, MSW from Rutgers University, road-tripping, hiking, camping, spending time with friends and family, Been to 42 of 59 National Parks in the US—all on road trips. The map below shows all of the road trips I’ve done to date, each color is a different trip—did I mention I love road tripping ☺

My Self
I’m not afraid to voice my opinions and stand up for what I believe is right. I’m confident in my own skin and am not afraid to try something new even if it means doing something completely foreign to me

My People
I’m definitely loud and value friendships just like they’re family. I make a huge effort to keep in touch with friends and family that have moved across the country and to other countries and I know my friends really appreciate that. That definitely started at Oliverian, when I went to high school away from home and had to keep in touch with a lot of people over the phone.

My Purpose
I’m passionate about helping people however I can, in big or small ways. I’ve found that something super quick and easy for me, can go a long way for other people. Additionally, I love getting people out of their comfort zones. I love exploring the country and hope to extend that to other countries and open up other people’s worlds to how affordable traveling can be if you do it right!)

Best Oli Memory
Hiking and camping by the middle cabin at Iron Mountain with all of the staff and students at school the first day of the school year!

Best thing about Oli
I’ve said this before- Oliverian is such an incredible place because every single person who goes there is different. Nobody is expected to be a certain type of person, everybody can just be themselves and work on whatever they are there to work on in the right time.

Why I Needed Oliverian
I had an issue with authority to say the least. Hated being told what to do, when to do it, how to do it. I hated being told what I was and was not allowed to do- what was legal, appropriate, according to the rules of wherever I was. I was basically at the point where I was going to end up completely messing up my life just because I couldn’t get my teenage shit together. If it wasn’t for Oliverian, sticking by me, even when I gave them plenty of reasons to give up on me, I would have never gotten to experience all of the amazing things I’ve gotten to in this life so far!)

Why the World Needs Oliverian
Oliverian is such an important part of this world because they deal with such a wide assortment of teens who don’t fit in any other setting at that point in their lives. Traditional settings are too lax and for whatever the individual reason, just not working for their personal growth, and treatment centers are above and beyond what the person needs or wants. Oliverian is the perfect median. Without it, I would have ended up in a treatment center, far more strict and cut off from society and friends, and I don’t believe I ever would have made it to find the real me. It just would have led to my complete anger and resentment for being stuck somewhere like that when what I really needed what somewhere like Oliverian.