By Joe Frescott, Sports Editor
“We are all making over a hundred nutrition choices and food-related nutrition choices a day. We have so much more information on how we can take better care of ourselves. As we get older, we are no longer able to do some of the things we enjoy and one thing you can do to help that is with these [food] choices we make every day. If we can help people make a few more healthier choices than before, that is always a good thing,” Assistant Professor and Director of the Dietetic Program Laura Feldman said.
Nutrition is a facet of health that plays a major role in the way our mind and body operate on a daily basis and is overlooked by the masses. Although Professor Feldman is more aware of this now than most, this wasn’t always the case.
While her early years were in Brooklyn, Feldman spent the majority of her childhood in Oceanside, on Long Island’s south shore. Upon graduating high school and unsure of what her future studies would be, she committed to the University of Delaware.
“I applied undecided,” she said. “A friend of mine had bariatric surgery, or weight loss surgery, during that time. I saw how it changed her life; made her feel so good about herself and embrace the opportunities that life has to offer. I said to myself, ‘I want to help people feel that way.’ I didn’t know anything about nutrition as a career or major, but it happened that Freshman weekend at the University of Delaware I told someone I wanted to make people feel good about what they eat and they suggested Nutrition and Dietetics and it kind of snowballed from there.”
Upon graduating with a bachelor’s in nutrition and dietetics, Feldman furthered her education at the University of Alabama, receiving a graduate degree in Nutrition. A savant in the classroom, Feldman continues her studies to this day, currently pursuing a doctorate online through the Roslyn Franklin University of Medical Sciences in interprofessional health care studies.
Outside of her continued studies, one of the early roles Feldman landed post-grad was at Northwell Health LIJ Valley Stream, where she served as the clinical nutrition manager. She recalls how that job led her to become a Shark.
“I used to accept LIU interns from the graduate program. I always really loved that aspect of taking in the students, teaching them, and giving them experience in the field. I noticed that LIU students were stronger than those from the other internship programs I would take students from. I heard there was going to be an opportunity [for a position at LIU], so I applied and I didn’t end up getting the original position I applied for,” Feldman admitted. “When another position came up they reached out to me, so I feel very lucky that it worked out that way. It also tells you that you gotta just go for it.”
Being a major facet of the nutrition program since 2019, Feldman shares her favorite aspects of nutrition and teaching as a whole.
“Everybody has a relationship with food. I feel like when you learn about someone’s relationship with food you learn about them. I love people and getting to know people. I always wanted to be some sort of helping profession and I feel like I get to do that with nutrition and also being a professor. Meeting different students and learning about different experiences are things I love to hear about because I find that I learn a lot from students as well,” she said. “A lot of it is the human connection part and being around people who want to better themselves. If you are in school, you are someone who is learning and wants to better themselves and that inspires me also… Hopefully, I have a difference to some students and continue to do so, whether it is obvious to me or not.”
Although a majority of her work lies in the undergraduate program, Professor Feldman also assists in LIU’s graduate nutrition program and has important advice for those interested in the field.
“Keep an open mind. A lot of people take an interest in nutrition because they have one way of eating that they have been following, but they need to understand that everyone is different. There is a whole world of nutrition to explore and [prospective students] should be open to hearing about all perspectives,” she suggests.
With the Dr. next to her name coming in her near future, Feldman already holds the titles of a registered dietician nutritionist, a certified diabetes care and education specialist by trade, and most importantly, a wife and mother of two. In her free time, which is admittedly rare as a mother, she enjoys reality television, readin, and travel, with her most memorable destinations being Thailand, Australia and Israel.
She imparts one final piece of advice that she lives by.
“I’m always saying ‘you make it work. You figure it out.’ Not everything is going to be perfectly aligned so you can’t necessarily wait for that perfect opportunity for things. Sometimes you have to just jump in and figure it out,” Feldman admits. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. I usually say that in a sarcastic way, but I do believe that it is true and you have to get a little uncomfortable.”
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