—Mara Sargent, 2014, Psychology, Senior Policy Analyst, State of Oregon
By Henry Houston, College of Arts and Sciences
When Mara Sargent ’14 (psychology) arrived at the University of Oregon campus, she was met with a vista of trees bursting with yellow, red, orange and green. It’s a sight that has long welcomed incoming students. For Sargent, it affirmed her decision to be in Eugene. Later, the campus community and atmosphere that reminded her of home in Berkeley, California, played a significant part in developing her professional career.
“Eugene and the University of Oregon are open-minded, inclusive and politically active,” Sargent said. “That was what I was looking for: a quintessential college experience with a strong heart, not just going to college and leaving.”
During her time as a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Sargent found Eugene to be the ideal college setting — filled with football games, dance classes and new friends. Making it even more exciting, Sargent’s student years coincided with major milestones for Oregon football, including traveling to Los Angeles for the 2012 Rose Bowl victory.
And while college was fun, she never lost sight of her academic purpose. She built a knowledgeable and skilled professional foundation that led to her current position as a senior policy analyst for the state of Oregon, where she works to improve access to substance use prevention programs.
Finding career direction at the UO
Before coming to the UO, Sargent intended to study theater and pursue acting. However, as she explored subjects through core education courses, she became fascinated by the human brain, drawing her toward psychology.
Not knowing exactly what that meant, she found direction as she took higher level courses. The Psychology 201 and 202 course series, which teach a foundational overview of psychological science, showed her the distinct paths she could take. Through the two courses, she surveyed the discipline and identified her specific area of interest — the chemical roots of how drugs affect the body.
“After that, I knew I wanted to pursue a career related to drug treatment and recovery,” Sargent said. “I wanted to be a public servant.”
She also found that a general education course on the history of women’s studies broadened her worldview and offered her insights that enhanced her studies.
“We talked about how feminism came to be, what existed before that and matriarchal societies,” Sargent said. “Learning through a different lens and looking at something in another way was something I had never done before. It was fascinating.”
As an undergraduate, she interned with Oregon Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), a UO student-run nonprofit advocating for public interest issues such as affordable textbooks, hunger relief and environmental protection. During her OSPIRG internship, she worked within the Eugene community to develop elementary classroom curricula on energy efficiency — an experience that clarified her professional ambitions.
“That’s really what got me excited about community health education,” Sargent said.
Building a professional foundation for public health
As a senior policy analyst for the state of Oregon, Sargent focuses on public health awareness, writing policy briefs on proposed legislation and drafting communications for awareness events such as National Overdose Awareness Day. Central to her role is collaborating with state legislators, public health officials and legal experts.
Sargent credits her time in CAS with teaching her the value of networking. Whether visiting professors during office hours — something a lot of students shy away from — or collaborating on group projects, she consistently developed interpersonal skills she relies on today.
Additionally, foundational research skills — such as synthesizing literature and evaluating evidence — prepared her for advanced study and policy work.
“That skill of using evidence-based knowledge, writing literature reviews, knowing where to find information and understanding p-values [a statistical measure] — I learned all of that in undergrad,” Sargent said.
Her undergraduate education also gave her the confidence to pursue graduate studies. She went on to earn a master’s degree in prevention science from the UO College of Education and a second master’s degree from Georgetown University.
A complete college experience
Sargent also used her time as a Duck to explore lasting personal interests. She encourages current students to take advantage of university offerings to discover lifelong hobbies, noting that the group dance classes she took at UO remain part of her weekly routine.
Growing up, Sargent attended Berkeley football games with her father. At Oregon, she embraced a new game-day tradition in Eugene.
“You know, over the river and through the woods to Autzen,” Sargent said. “It still gets me emotional.”
Looking back, she views the UO as a place where stepping outside her comfort zone paid off.
“College is an opportunity to try things because this is the time when your comfort zone solidifies,” Sargent said. “Even if you’re away from home, keep trying new things. You never know what you’re going to find.”