She graduated from Groton-Dunstable Regional High School in Groton, Massachusetts.[1] In 1986, she enrolled at Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.[12] Bridgewater State College officials ordered Gilbert to receive psychiatric treatment after she made a fake suicide attempt.[10] Because of this, in 1987, she transferred to Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts and then to Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts.[1][12] She graduated from Greenfield Community College with a nursing diploma and became a registered nurse in 1988. Later that year, she married Glenn Gilbert.