After a year of working three jobs, averaging 55-60 hour work weeks, Sarah Berg will be glad to take on the fast-paced Up With People experience. After all, it will be “just one thing.”

The Mid-Prairie High School graduate (Class of 1998) leaves July 18 for an extended orientation session in Colorado. After that she will travel with one of the performance teams both in the United States and abroad.

“I hope in the United States it will be on one of the coasts. I really would like to be out of the midwest,” said Berg.

Foreign travel is guaranteed, but at this stage Berg does not know where it will be.

Expenses

Besides earning the funds to take on the year-long experience ($13,700 for Up With People and another $2,000 to $3,000 to cover personal expenses and other spending), Berg has spent time with Averi Kos who, last year, returned from a year with Up With People.

“Averi’s been a big help” said Berg, explaining that it was Kos who suggested that “I interview with Up With People, telling me, if nothing else, the interview would be good experience.”

Six weeks later, Berg received a letter informing her she had been accepted for the program, starting in July, 1999.

That left Berg with a year, more or less, to raise the money she would need.

Since then, she has worked at Old Navy, (full-time) in the Coral Ridge Mall, the Kalona Standard and at Chili’s.

When her parents learned she had been accepted, they had some “reservations” about her accepting it.

“They had some doubts that I could do it.”

However, her year-long work schedule has helped dispel doubts.

Fund raiser

In addition to her jobs, there have been some fundraising activities, the last one of which is set for June 26 in the Richmond Park.

It will be a barbecue,” for which donations will be accepted.

The event starts at 3 p.m.

Up With People is a multi-cultural experience for young people who stay with host families in the communities they visit. In addition to presenting a major show, the members also perform community service during the time they are in an area.

In fact, like its name, the program is people oriented, offering its participants numerous opportunities for educational and cross-cultural experiences.

Berg was active in school sports and believes that the teamwork approach is a key factor for Up With People.

She has two sisters and one brother, all younger, and said, “I don’t think they will be interested in doing this later.”

And, for her, afterward?

“I plan to go on to school, but I have not decided where or what I will study yet. I want to do this first.”