Sarah P.

Q. What were you doing before the Oxford Program and what are you doing now?

A. I was just going through the motions for 11 years. I had a marketing and design firm with 2 partners specializing in lifestyle marketing to 12-34 year olds. I am almost done with graduate school at the University of Washington doing a Masters in Landscape Architecture and Restoration Ecology

Q. Are you happy you made the decision?

A. Yes!

Q. Any advice for others

A. I just took the Oxford Program very seriously and did every step exactly as my Oxford coach told me to do it. 

One very important thing I think is not to self-limit your options when going through the program. I have a few friends going through the program now and I find that the greatest challenge they are facing is freeing themselves from their preconceptions about what are legitimate or achievable careers for them. They think of something, but then don't want to put it down because they don't think it's realistic. But even if "rock star" isn't a practical career, the things you discover about yourself from putting that down, particularly the commonalities you discover that link all the dream careers you put down, can lead to a real career. When I started the program, I had 2 things I was very clear about - I was not going back to school and I would never move to the Northwest. After going through the program and getting clearer about what I wanted to do as a career, neither of those things seemed like the "nevers" they were when I started. And here I am doing both!