2008 Maryland Scholarship Winner – Dan Godio
Maryland – Mr. Dan Godio
Dan Godio is planning on attending East Carolina University to study sports medicine. Dan is also planning to make the mens basketball team as a walk-on. Having just completed his senior year as captain of the 16-6 SPHS basketball team and also having completely trashed me in a game of one on one, I wouldn’t bet against him. Go for it Dan. We will be rooting for you and looking forward to your next update!
June 2015 update:
Afternoon Eric,
I hope this email finds you and the family doing well. It certainly has been a very eventful year. I wanted to email you this afternoon to let you know that I have officially graduated from the University of Maryland, School of Medicine with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. It has been such an incredible journey and I am happy to announce that I made it through in one piece! This whole past year of clinical rotations was such an unbelievable experience. I traveled all over the country and got to work with some incredible people in some incredible places. I would love to catch up sometime soon to share more details with you!
I am also happy to announce that I was offered and have accepted my first full-time position with an outpatient orthopedic clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina. I will be moving down there in a month or so and beginning sometime in early July. I am so excited to begin my career and start this new life chapter in a new city. I am not sure if you have ever made it down there before, but it is an amazing city with so much to offer. I will absolutely update you and send you some pictures when I get settled down there.
I also have a few photos from my graduation ceremony that I have attached along with this email. Anyways, I don’t mean to take up too much of your time. I just wanted to keep you updated and let you know that this mission began back in 2008 when I was awarded the Eric Herzberg Memorial Scholarship and today I am happy to say that the mission is complete! Again, I hope all is well and please give my best to the family. P.S. I have been working on the golf game quite a bit and would love a rematch some day. I look forward to speaking with you soon.
All the Best,
Daniel P. Godio, PT, DPT, CSCS
Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
University of Maryland School of Medicine ’15, East Carolina University ’12
From Eric and Wendi:
Doctor Dan! You did make it! Congratulations – that’s remarkable. And you are employed already. What a journey you have been on. Charlotte is a very nice place. I lived in Greenville, SC, about 100 miles south of Charlotte for 6 years. Drove through many times. Thanks for the update as well. I will post this to your page. Golf – yes…..do you want to try and fit it in before you go south?
We are very proud of you Dan. Great job maintaining your focus.
June 2014 update:
Eric’s dad Eric and Dan had the opportunity to get together and play some golf on a beautiful sunny day in June. Dan brought Eric up to speed on the remaining coursework and internship time until he completed his doctorate. Very exciting news – Dan is less than one year from finishing. Internships in North Carolina and Arizona are basically what remains. Great going Dan! What about the golf you say? Well, let’s just say Dan is demanding a rematch sometime in the near future. Dan – we look forward to seeing you complete your studies and training soon. Hopefully we can get together again and by that time, you will be Dr. Godio!
January 2014 update:
Hello Herzberg Family,
It is great to hear from you! Happy new year to you, as well. Sorry it has been a while since our last chat. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are off to a nice start here in 2014. Everything is going very well right now. I am almost done my second year of the physical therapy program here at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. It has been quite the roller coaster ride these past few years, but I am absolutely loving what I am learning and can’t wait to finish up and be a practicing clinician. I will be finishing up all the coursework for the program this June and then I begin my clinical rotations. The clinical rotations are a year in length in which I will be working in three different settings for three months a piece. This will be my chance to get the hands-on experience with real patients while simultaneously further developing my professional skills. The rotations will be all over the country which I am very excited for. Not 100% sure where they will be as of now, but I have a strong feeling they will include California, Texas, and Arizona! If all goes according to plan I will graduate with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy in May 2015. Currently, I am living in downtown Baltimore a few blocks down from my campus. I made the move down here a few months ago so I could be more convenient to campus and the practice laboratories. Other than that, life has been pretty simple. I still enjoy working out and playing basketball as my main source of stress relief, taking my dog out for runs, hiking/kayaking (weather permitting), movies, concerts, etc. Over the past few months I have also been involved with the Big Brother/Big Sister program. I mentor an 11 year old young man from the Annapolis area. We spend a few hours together each month and engage in all kinds of fun activities.
Enough about me! How is everything going with you and the family? Are you guys still living in Manassas? I would love to get together sometime if you guys have some free time in the upcoming weeks/months! Thanks so much for your continued support of me and my academic/personal goals. Receiving Eric’s scholarship all those years ago really was the foundational milestone that reinforced the idea that anything is possible in this life and for that I am extremely thankful. Thanks again for checking in, look forward to hearing from you and hopefully getting together sometime in the near future.
All The Best,
Daniel P. Godio
Doctor of Physical Therapy Student
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Class of 2015
July 2012 update:
Mr. and Mrs. Herzberg,
It is so great to hear from you! I really can’t believe it has been over a year, time is just flying by! I hope this email finds you and the family in good health and good spirits.
My last year at ECU was amazing. I graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Physiology. I truly believe that East Carolina was the perfect fit for me and it helped to turn me into the person I am today. It was extremely tough to leave the place I had spent the past four years of my life. In my final year at ECU, I served as an intern with East Carolina Physical Therapy. With this internship, I gained a great appreciation for the health care field, as well as, an enhanced ambition to pursue a career in physical therapy.
As far as my plans go, I was accepted into the University of Maryland School of Medicine and I am currently working towards obtaining my Doctorate in Physical Therapy! It is a three year program and I am extremely fortunate and grateful for the opportunity! I started back in early May and we have hit the ground running. It is a lot of work and a great deal of dedication, but I am absolutely loving it so far. I could go on and on about all of the interesting things we are doing!
It is hard to sum up over a year into a few short paragraphs! I would love to get together sometime so we can catch up in further detail. Also, I have attached some photos for you guys.
Thanks again for the email. I hope you all are doing well!
Sincerely,
Dan Godio
B.S. Exercise Physiology
East Carolina ’12
May 2011 update:
Mr. Herzberg,
So glad to hear that your doing well. Sounds like your Cayman islands trip was a blast. I’ve never had the chance to vacation there, but maybe I can talk the parents into it someday. That horseback riding picture is awesome, looks like you could have raced in the Kentucky Derby haha. That’s great about the 3 scholarships this year, I’m sure the 3 lucky recipients are well deserving, hard working individuals. Glad to hear that you’ve picked up a new hobby in the electric guitar. My dad has been playing drums in a band for a few years now (except he has yet to give me any lessons, I can’t seem to carry much of a rhythm when it comes to music). I haven’t had too much exposure to Christian music, but I took a listen to the Tomlin song and actually found it pretty enjoyable. I am impressed that you are still running and playing basketball. I can only strive to have the will power to finish 3 Marine Corps Marathons in my lifetime. I am confident that you will break that 4 hour mark very soon. So great to hear from you, Mr. Herzberg. Look forward to hearing back from you soon.
I’ve included a few picutres with this email. One is me serving as a student marshal at the East Carolina College of Health and Human Performance senior graduation ceremony. One is me and the family outside of Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium after receiving a scholarship from the college of health and human perfomance. The other is me putting down a nice little 360 dunk (I actually won the ECU slam dunk contest this year, represented pretty well for the white guys hah). Take care, Mr. Herzberg.
Dan Godio
B.S. Exercise Physiology
East Carolina ’12
April 2011 update:
Hey Mr. Herzberg,
It is great to hear from you! I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry it has been so long since the last time we have spoken. Everything is great down here. Classes end this week, and final exams begin next week. I can’t believe that I am finishing up my junior year of college, time has just flown by! What’s new with you and the family?
I have been doing plenty to keep myself busy down here. I have had a rigorous schedule the past two semesters. Organic chemistry, physics, biomechanics, physiology, and a variety of other challenging courses have occupied most of my time. I also have been working as an undergraduate research assistant in the biomechanics laboratory here at ECU in which we do very complex testing and analysis of various human movements. Pretty interesting stuff!
I’ve also been involved with a mentoring program in which I exercise with overweight adolescents three times a week to promote healthy lifestyles and preach the importance of physical activity and good nutritional habits. That has been a very rewarding experience seeing as how I have developed great relationships with the youths and found a passion for the health profession. I have maintained high academic grades, as well. This past semester I had a 3.9 GPA which brought me to a 3.5 for my overall collegiate GPA.
I also played with the men’s basketball scout team this year, helping them prep for their games by challenging them hard in practice while continuing to develop my own game. I have adopted a very routine weight training program to go along with my game development. I have seen tremendous increases in both size and strength, as well as aerobic capacity, which goes to show that hard work certainly pays off over time.
As the year comes to an end, I am still figuring out my plans for the summer. I believe I will be in Severna Park for a majority of May and then back to Carolina for June and July. I have made quite a few connections down here through my hard work and dedication. In fact, I am almost certain that next fall I will be doing a sports medicine internship at The Andrews Institute in Pensacola, Florida (www.theandrewsinstitute.com). It is owned and operated by Dr. James Andrews who is one of the most well known surgeons in the country, so this could potentially be a tremendous learning experience for me. The plan is to finish up here next spring and then begin the graduate school search. I plan on applying to several Doctoral Physical Therapy programs next year (which is super competitive, so I need to continue to work hard!).
Other than that everything is going very well for me down here and I greatly look forward to what the future brings. Sorry for the length of this email, it was the briefest summary I could give haha. Anyway, I truly hope all is well. I would love to hear back from you with all that you guys have been up to and any new exciting experiences you may have encountered. Again, it was great to hear from you and look forward to hearing from you again! Take care.
Dan Godio
B.S. Exercise Physiology
East Carolina ’12
October 2009 update:
Hey Mr. Herzberg, Just wanted to take the time to get up with you and the family to see how you all are doing. It has been a while since we have last spoken and I hope that you and the family are doing well. Things are going very well for me this year at ECU. I made the basketball scout team which basically means I will be on the practice squad, but there is the potential to be put on the roster with enough hard work and dedication. Academically I have been doing extremely well. I have been excelling in classes such as anatomy and physiology, physics, and kinesiology. This upcoming semester I actually will be admitted into the college of health and human performance, and hopefully begin my path towards physical therapy. I have also been on a very rigorous weight training program and running plan, so hopefully one day you and I could take part in a race (even though you would probably beat me still!). North Carolina life is great, I really am proud of myself for making the choice to come to East Carolina University. I am confident that they have all the tools to equip me for the future. I wanted to thank you again for the scholarship contribution, both my family and I really appreciate it. I also wanted to take the time and again express my deepest sympathies for your loss. Eric was a tremendous young man, and I will be saying a prayer for him today. Eric had a positive influence on everyone he came in contact with and today, October 21st is a day where thousands of people will remember him and the heroic actions he took while defending this great nation. I really look forward to hearing from you soon Mr. Herzberg. Again, I hope all is well and God bless.
Sincerely, Dan Godio
ECU ’12
Dan, thank you for your kind words about Eric. We miss him terribly and think about him every day. We are grateful for young men and women like yourself who understand the price that he paid and are striving to reach your full potential. We are very proud of you and maybe when you have some time, we can make that run together. Many blessings to you and your family!
Eric and Wendi
February 2009 update:
Hey Mr. Herzberg – everything down here is going great. Sorry for the delayed response, I hardly ever check my yahoo email account. I usually just use my ECU email (dpg0315@ecu.edu). Basketball is going great as well. We just finished up a tournament last weekend at the University of Virginia in which we went 2-1, beatin UVA and Wake Forest. We also have two upcoming tournaments. One this Saturday at William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA and one at James Madison on the 21st. School is going good, classes arent too hard as of yet. The weather is starting to get very warm down here and I can’t wait for it to stay that way. Nice work in the marathon. I’m sure you will do great again next year. I will be home in early March for spring break which will be a nice relief. How is the family doing? I hope all is well and look forward to hearing from you.
PS. I know the new scholarship winner will be coming up soon, so I’ll be keeping my eye out for the next recipient.
Take care,
Dan Godio ECU ’12
September 2008 update:
Wow, college life is different! I just moved in on the 15th down here at ECU. I love it down here so far. The carolina weather is better than ever. Classes started last week and its already working me pretty hard. My athletic training/sports medicine major requires my classes to be all early, so I’m up and running at 7am everyday. I was just assigned to help out with the football team as an observing athletic trainer, meaning I get to attend practices and games and watch the action first hand. Basketball is still very much in my heart as well. I’ve been going to the rec center everyday, working out, running, scrimmaging, and doing everything I can to prepare myself. Still unclear about walk on status yet, but I have been in contact with the club coach who has shown a bit of interest in me. The first of school had me a bit home sick, as I’m sure it has for many kids, but I’m adjusting and I’m having a blast. I’ve met a ton of nice people, my teachers are great, and the atmosphere is terrific. I hope this email finds you and your family doing well. Hope you had a great summer too. (Hope you’ve been working on your jump shot too..just kidding) Hope all is well and look forward to talking with you soon. Take care.
