2023 marked my third year building home in Seattle, Washington and my first out of grad school. I continued my work as a therapist and care coordinator in Seattle Public Schools until June but ultimately decided not to return due to an unexpected personal loss and burnout. I’m grateful to have spent the year learning from and supporting such resilient young people while gaining an understanding of the systems that are struggling to meet their needs. During the summer months, I nannied for two energetic toddlers and got back to my animal-loving roots working as a stable hand on a large horse farm. This fall, I began in my new role as the care coordinator for a collective of therapists who specialize in politicized healing and trauma processing for the queer and trans community. I am excited to be a part of this collective and their commitment to connecting political conditions with individual and collective mental health. Amidst a full year, I continue to explore my own gender and feel increasingly embodied as I integrate pieces of my expression that were long buried. Life is short and what an honor to really live it! Thank you MVYouth for your support during undergrad and for being part of the reason I can pursue such a full life, post-grad and beyond.
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
My second year living in Seattle has been one of exciting changes. In June, I graduated with my Master of Social Work in Administration and Policy Practice from the University of Washington, which felt like a big end to my 19 consecutive years of education (you can imagine I was feeling ready to be done!). Also in June, I submitted my Masters thesis/passion project on peer respite centers, which are peer-run alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization, and sent the research out for future publication in a research journal. My parents and sister travelled to Seattle to celebrate and visit the stunning Orcas Island, which was a blast. I took the rest of the summer to decompress and take a few adventurous trips to a rural Washington farm, Portland and Chicago. In the fall, I started my first post-grad job as a mental health counselor and care coordinator at a Seattle-area middle school and high school with a majority queer and trans student body. Despite my research and policy focus in school, I am finding that directly supporting youth mental health in a school setting feels fulfilling and natural for me right now. There are certainly very difficult days doing this work within broken systems and a lack of resources, and I'm grateful to have a strong network of support from friends and family to get me through. I am also proud to have come out as non-binary this year. Having the privilege to express my authentic self in a safe and affirming community both at work and in my personal life has meant the world, and I'm dreaming of a future where this is the norm for all. Thank you as always to MVYouth and to my Vineyard roots for providing me with the support and resources to get me here!
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
Over a year and a half has passed since I first moved to Seattle, Washington in the middle of the pandemic, not knowing a single soul. That leap of faith proved valuable, as I now feel most at home with mountains and evergreen trees nearby, and that crisp, perpetually damp air all around. I just completed the first quarter of my second and final year in the Master of Social Work program at the University of Washington, where I am in the Administration and Policy Practice concentration. I’ve been hard at work preparing policy memos, drawing up logic models for anti-racist social services, and honing my organizational leadership skills. I am focusing much of my work on de-carcerating mental health care and advocating for voluntary, peer-led alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization. For my second-year internship, I am a project facilitator with the Northwest Behavioral Health Research Alliance, a newly formed group of service users, providers, and researchers who collaborate to conduct research and quickly put the results into practice in mental health settings. To combat the rigor of grad school, pandemic-induced isolation, and Seattle’s dark winter months, I try to fill my free time with laughter and connection, something creative (learning to knit) and exercise (boxing and rock climbing are my current favorites). I’m excited to graduate with my MSW this coming June, and I intend on staying in the Pacific Northwest as I enter the workforce. I feel so appreciative for the financial support MVYouth gave me during my undergrad career, as I would not have entered a graduate program had I finished my bachelor’s degree with significant student loans. As always, I am sending my support and affection to the resilient Vineyard community that raised me up.
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
It feels like a lifetime has passed since my last update in December 2019! When Hamilton College closed last March, I returned to the island and was welcomed with warm, open arms into the home of family friend Kimberly Angell to finish out the semester and graduate online. My concentration in Women’s and Gender Studies culminated in a thesis to meet the moment, titled “Transformative Justice at Hamilton: A Guide for Student Organizing.” Although I missed out on a celebratory final semester, I felt overwhelmingly grateful and privileged to have a roof over my head, an island kiddo to care for, and Land Bank trails to explore as Covid-19 ravaged through communities across the nation. In September, I gathered up all of my courage and made the big move out to Seattle, Washington to begin my Masters of Social Work at the University of Washington. This was a daunting task during the pandemic, especially knowing classes would be online and how hard it would be to make connections in a new, unfamiliar city. I’m proud to say I just finished my first quarter of the program, and found a strong sense of community with four wonderful housemates. I also declared my concentration in Administration and Policy Practice, and am excited to begin my placement next quarter at Yes Farm, a Black-led food justice organization in downtown Seattle. Thank you so much to MYouth for funding my undergraduate education at Hamilton, as the knowledge and experience I received there will be foundational to my postgraduate studies and future career. Although my new home is now located on the other side of the country, I am sending the entire island community my love and wishing healing to all those touched by these difficult times.
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
My final fall semester at Hamilton was a whirlwind of classes, campus activism, and post-grad planning. I took five courses and buckled down for my most rigorous and academically fulfilling semester yet. My courses included Feminist Research Methodologies, Black Feminist Thought, Queer Literature, Sociology of the Family, and an independent study titled “Exploring Restorative Justice for Sexual Harm on College Campuses.” The independent study, which will evolve into my senior thesis in Women’s and Gender Studies next semester, continuously inspired me as I dove deep into restorative justice theory and practice, received funding to attend two trainings on the topic, and interviewed practitioners all over the country. At the end of the semester, I submitted a 40-page document outlining my findings and felt energized by all I had learned. When I wasn’t head down in my books, I served as co-president of Survivors Making Activism and Radical Transformation (SMART), a grassroots student organization combatting rape culture on campus. In October, my SMART co-leaders and I installed a surprise art display on a major campus walkway depicting the number of reported rapes at Hamilton the prior year. Through SMART, I also used my new understandings of restorative justice to facilitate a community-building circle with a campus fraternity on the topic of toxic masculinity. In between my classes and on-campus involvement, I somehow managed to find time to apply to four graduate programs for macro-level social work with a plan to begin next fall, should I be admitted (fingers crossed!). I could not have received this transformative education at Hamilton College for the last four years without the significant financial support of MVYouth. Thank you for seeing my potential and putting me on the path to pursue a fulfilling career in social service.
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
My Fall 2018 semester has been nothing short of awesome. As a junior at Hamilton College, I elected to take my coursework in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, Netherlands this semester through a study abroad program called IES. I took a course called Conflict Studies at the University of Amsterdam, which gave me an introductory glimpse into world politics, a topic I previously had little knowledge of. My other three classes, Gender Studies, Dialogues on Difference, and Dutch Language and Culture, were situated in the Dutch context, allowing me to analyze racism, homonationalism, and Islamophobia outside of the United States. My identity as an activist and white ally only grew as I attended protests and shattered preconceptions I had of the Netherlands being a liberal utopia.
Outside of my studies, I cared for three French-Dutch sisters aged 4, 8, and 11 twice a week. I rode the ‘bakfiets’ while taking care of them, which is essentially a bicycle with a huge basket in front to transport the littlest one. Cycling is the main form of transportation in Amsterdam and I quickly learned there is a real skill to biking home in heavy rain while carrying grocery bags and maneuvering past mopeds and oblivious pedestrians! Some weekends I spent traveling to nearby countries, but many times I stayed in Amsterdam exploring all the city had to offer while developing lasting friendships with other students in my program. This semester would not have been possible without the financial support of MVYouth, as it is a real privilege to experience life in another country while continuing my studies. I feel full of gratitude for MVYouth as I reflect on this adventurous and eye-opening semester. I will be in Copenhagen, Denmark next semester for the second half of my study abroad year. Stay tuned!
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
I've had a busy fall semester at Hamilton College. I took an art course, an introductory women's studies course, and two education courses this semester. Women's studies was fascinating because the issues we've learn about are particularly prominent in today's political climate. My two education courses were wonderful - one focused on lesson planning while the other was an ethnography course in which I had to observe a classroom in the community every week and then write about it. The art course "Figure Drawing" was a toss-up, a totally different area of study and one very unfamiliar to me. I took the course because I wanted to challenge myself. I love that Hamilton allows me to explore and expand my interests. I have continued riding on the Equestrian Club team twice a week as well. It brings me a lot of joy to be around the horses. I also continue to intern at the local middle school running girls empowerment groups. My life at Hamilton is so full of the things I love to do. There are so many possibilities in my future thanks to the generous support of MVYouth.
Olivia Jacobs - Hamilton College
It is hard to put all of my thoughts and feelings regarding my first semester at Hamilton College into words, but I will do my best! My classes last semester greatly inspired me. I was assigned at least 100 pages of reading every weeknight, but the hours spent pouring over books were well worth it. My eyes have been opened to the vast world around me. I now understand, with clenched fists, America’s system of mass incarceration and the horrifying realities occurring inside American prisons; I have delved into religious studies, exploring Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Mormonism; I have studied the history of discrimination driven by concepts of race and gender; I have read about the evolution of the American public education system. Aside from academia, I’m interning at a local middle and high school, working in the counseling office and running girls empowerment groups. Working with the kids is the highlight of my week. I am also in the Hamilton Equestrian Club, riding twice a week and loving it. The College has so much to offer, and there is never a day when I feel bored or restless. Hamilton has truly become my home, and I cannot thank MVYouth enough for allowing me to attend such a remarkable school.