“I Wish I Could Help in This Crisis”
Soon-to-be NYSCAS Grad on Her Future as Nurse on the Frontlines
This past January, Regina Malkiev—a senior student at NYSCAS—received a letter she had very much hoped to receive: her acceptance to Columbia University’s School of Nursing. She was admitted to both the Master’s and the Doctor of Nursing Practice programs, and was awarded the school’s merit-based Seamless Scholarship, as well as a needs-based scholarship.
Regina is currently completing her bachelor’s degree in biology in Dr. Arthur Babayan’s research lab. Despite the current lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she says she is completing her studies at NYSCAS remotely; she plans to begin her graduate studies at Columbia in the beginning of June—online, of course.
“It’s not an easy situation right now,” she says. “I have two children, we’re all at home; thankfully, my husband is very supportive. Touro College is doing an amazing job at handling the situation. Our professors are very understanding, some of them are recording their online lectures so that students can watch them later.”
As she looks at the ongoing health crisis, Regina wishes she could help.
“I wish I already knew everything I need to know and had my license, so that I could help right now,” she explains. “I feel bad that I’m not there on the frontlines. I’m very passionate about helping people.”
Regina was born in Uzbekistan and spent a decade of her life in Israel. After getting married, she moved to the United States and started a family with her husband. Only in her thirties, when her oldest child started elementary school, she decided to return to school and pursue a college education.
“I took him to school for his first day, and I remember telling him about the importance of studying and having good grades, so that he’ll be able to get a degree and hopefully have a good job to support his future family,” she recalls. “He asked me, ‘Mommy, then why didn’t you go to college?’ and I decided that, as a parent, I want to be an example for my kids.”
Regina began her studies at York College in Queens, and then transferred to Touro College’s NYSCAS, where she found her home away from home. “As someone who’s immigrated to a new country twice in her life, I was afraid of the language barrier, of pursuing a career as a mother and a wife, and I understood there was a chance I would fail. But we should not be afraid of failures, we should always give it a try: Every failure brings us closer to our success.”
Regina decided to study at the Manhattan campus on 31st Street, because she wanted to experience life in the heart of the city. She chose to pursue a career in healthcare, following her parents’ footsteps: her father is a surgeon and her mother is a nurse. During her third year at NYSCAS, she worked as a chemistry tutor.
“The atmosphere at NYSCAS is amazing,” she says. “The professors are passionate and caring. I feel at home here.”
