| Video courtesy of JDRF and O’Keefe Communications |
“I really like WJ,” said Zegowitz. ” The staff is really nice and the students here are very spirited and a pleasure to work with.”
Born and raised in Damascus, Zegowitz’s high school experience was different from the typical WJ experience.
“The students are more involved in activities and there are tons more clubs,” said Zegowtiz
Zegowitz attended Baker Middle School and Damascus High School. She, however, was involved as a student at her high school in her own way, as a very talented player on the girls basketball team. After graduating from high school, she went to Monmouth University in N.J. tomajor in criminal justice.
Returning to Maryland after graduationg college, Zegowitz started her first job working for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I was doing housing stabilization so people were coming to me who had eviction notices and I would try to help find money so they could keep their houses,” said Zegowitz, explaining her previous job.
But working in security for a high school is a first for Zegowitz.
“I like working at WJ,” she said. “I am really enjoying security; I feel like it’s a mix of my criminal justice major and my social work background with my first job.”
Zegowitz finds her new job to be an opportune combination of all the work she has done over the years.
“I wanted to become an MCPS security guard because I like working with high school aged students,” said Zegowitz.”I got my degree in criminal justice and I wanted to coach high school basketball and this job allows me to use my background in criminal jusitce and work hours that are convient with coaching.”
Zegowitz has done just that. She is the coach of the JV girls basketball team and the assistant coach of the varsity girls team at Damascus. Yet, prior to her high school coaching days, Zegowitz was a star basketball player in high school, and then went on to Monmouth on a four-year athletic scholarship to play on their women’s basketball team.
She doesn’t just enjoy basketball when she’s on the court as a player or coach, though. Zegowitz loves going to Maryland games, as she regularly does, and of course, stays loyal to Monmouth as a big fan.
“I have to say that my favorite basketball team will have to be Monmouth because I played there, but other than that, I really enjoy watching college basketball and Maryland would be my favorite team, aside from Monmouth, of course,” she said. “I’ve gone to a lot of boys and girls games at Maryland.”
Zegowitz’s true passion has much more depth than a scoreboard. After being diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of nine, Zegowitz devotes a great amount of her time and efforts to help find a cure.
“I’m very involved in a lot of activities and fundraisers promoting [the] Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRD),” said Zegowitz.
Zegowitz works with the JDRD Gala every year and participates with the Walk to Cure Diabetes.
With the JDRD, Zegowitz has spoken as an athlete about the challenges and obstacles she’s faced – switching her thoughts from the number of points she’s scored to the number of her blood-sugar level.
Living in Gaithersburg and working in Bethesda makes it easy for Zegowitz to visit her family who still live in Damascus. She particularly enjoys visiting her sister who attends a college near Baltimore.
“I see my family a lot,” she said.”They still live in Damascus and I coach at Damascus. They come to my games.”
She is especially close to her sister, who is also involved with sports.
“My younger sister, who is 21, plays lacrosse at Stevenson University so I’m excited for the spring to watch her play,” said Zegowitz.
Family aside, having been at WJ for six months now, Zegowitz can strike down many stereotypes she’s noticed, coming from rural Damascus to suburban and urban Bethesda.
“People think that since I come from Damascus because I listen to country [music],” said Zegowitz. “But I don’t, I listen to a bit of everything, but not country.”
Zegowitz has become an apparent face on the security team and around WJ.
“I’m happy to be here,” she said.
