b'26RAPPORT | Notes & NewsAlex GoldmeierChristopher OConnor Memorial Fund Scholarship RecipientAlex Goldmeier has just completed his first yearGoldmeier had a catastrophic ski accident that as a Clinical Psychology PsyD student at Williamleft him paralyzed from the chest down. Getting James College. Originally from New York, hea doctorate in psychology has always been a life moved to Newton, MA in the fall of 2019 to begingoal, and I was planning to attend grad school his studies. Goldmeier is the first recipient ofeven before my injury. I had intended to start in a scholarship from the Christopher OConnorthe fall of 2018, but decided to come in the fall of Memorial Fund, and we caught up with him over2019 instead. the phone as he was packing up to move back toI am passionate about the field of psychology his parents house for the summer.and think I can make a difference, Goldmeier The first thing Goldmeier said was do yousaid. As a teen, he worked as a camp counselor know Im in a wheelchair? That detail is cruciallyand realized he enjoyed working with children. In important to understanding Goldmeierscollege, at the University of Vermont (16), he did motivation and determination to succeed as awork studying resiliency in children. After college, student. In February of 2018, at the age of 24,he did an internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York, working in inpatient care for children and adolescents who had experienced trauma and addiction. In his first year at WJC, he did a practi-cum at Memorial Spaulding Elementary School, doing bibliotherapy with children and talking with them about their zones of regulation. These experiences have helped to refine his thinking, and have drawn him to the CFAR (Children & Families of Adversity & Resilience) Concentra-tion at the College. How we are raised has a huge influence on who we become and I want to under-stand how family dynamics matter.In the fall of 2020, Goldmeier started a practicum at MetroWest Medical Center, where he is interested in the partial-hospitalization program for addiction and trauma. With outpatients, people have things under control and need to maintain their life. With partial-hospitalization, people are in a transition period'