“When you go on a professional job interview and the interviewer sees Columbia University’s Teachers College, it’s no contest,” he says. “You’ll get the job. That’s how I got mine, and I’m extremely thankful to have it. I was born to be an educator – it is my passion and my calling. I could teach every day and feel that I hadn’t worked at all. When you love your job, it’s not work.”

Akhtar was four years old when he came to America from India with his parents. He went to a public high school in Yonkers and attended the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and the Cochran School of Nursing in Yonkers. He has two decades of nursing experience, including several years spent as a critical care nurse. He still takes his students on clinical rotations to some of the finest hospitals in the New York City area for their medical and surgical Nursing courses.

“Nurses contend with numerous life-and-death situations and must be mentally strong, relying on their critical thinking and leadership skills. You must know when and how to intervene to help your patients heal. I learned this at Teachers College, which has been my ‘home’ for many years, and I teach what I learn at TC to my nursing students. They are very inquisitive and keep me on my toes.

“As a first-generation immigrant, having the opportunity to attend an Ivy League university – Teachers College at Columbia University – is a gift. I’m very humbled and thankful for that opportunity and now see it as my mission to educate the future generation of nurses, those who will provide the next generation with the best and safest-quality care they could possibly have.” — Robert Florida

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Published Wednesday, Oct 4, 2017