Gabrielle Goldman, 22, is passionate about helping people in the health care field.
After growing up in Owings Mills and attending Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Goldman decided to go to Israel for a gap year at Israel XP at Bar-Ilan University. After completing a full year of credits in Israel, Goldman went to the University of Maryland, College Park as a sophomore. She majored in sociology and minored in humanities, health and medicine.
Since graduating from UMD in May, Goldman has been working as a physical therapy technician at Klaff Sports Physical Therapy in Pikesville.
Goldman lives in Owings Mills and is a member of Beth Tfiloh Congregation.
What did you originally plan to do with your sociology degree?
I majored in sociology because I didn’t really know exactly what I was going to do, and it was so broad that it allowed me to go wherever I wanted with it. I didn’t want to do anything that was very specific in college and would leave me zeroed into one field after school. I feel like most people in undergrad don’t know what they’re doing after, but they still might pick a major because they think they should.
Sociology taught me about different types of people, and it let me work with whatever situation I might want to do. I always knew I would probably go for a master’s after, and it left that possibility open.
What do you do as a tech?
I only just started a couple weeks ago, but I warm up the patients, whether that’s helping them get set up on the arm bike or the recumbent bike. The therapist will assign them exercises to help them strengthen and warm up. I’m really interested in going into a career in the health field, but I’m not exactly sure what I want to do after.
What’s your favorite part of the job so far?
I love everybody that works there. They’re all very friendly, and getting to interact with patients is really cool.
How has the transition back home been for you?
It’s been a transition. It’s really different from living with your friends. All of my friends lived in the same building as me. But some friends from school still live in Baltimore, so that’s been really nice. Some just live in the area and I’m making plans to go see people from school that live out of state, so I am keeping myself busy, but socially it’s different.
How would you describe your relationship with Judaism?
I would describe it as very important to me. At UMD, I was part of this organization called Meor. They had a house, and it was kind of like a club. They would run different programs throughout the year. They would always have a ton of food from whatever kosher restaurants are in Silver Spring. That was really nice because it felt reminiscent of stuff we would do at Beth Tfiloh or in my gap year program. Part of the reason I went to Israel after high school was that I really wanted to spend more time there because we spent so long learning about it. I realized that that was the time to go.
What is your favorite Jewish holiday?
I really like Passover. My whole family gets together, and the food is really good. Well, the food at the seders, not the packaged gross stuff.
Outside of work, what are some things you do for fun?
Now that I’ve graduated, I have a lot more time to read. I love to swim, and I was on the swim team in high school. I also play with my dog.
