“It took me time to understand what a career really is and how it shapes you as an individual,” said Kohn. “I realized I had to forge my own path.”

Looking to find that path, Kohn enrolled in Touro’s Machon L’Parnosa.

“Touro opened up avenues in my mind,” Kohn said. After graduating, he decided to become an occupational therapist and applied to Touro’s School of Health Sciences Occupational Therapy program. “I was empowered by knowledge.”

Kohn graduated in 2010. These days, aside from working in yeshivas and maintaining his private practice, he returned to Touro, this time as a teacher. “I come to my class with the same enthusiasm I had when I was a student,” he said.

Kohn likes to say he is many firsts: the first member of his family to attend college; the first to graduate college and the first to succeed in a career in the health field.

“I try to inspire my family and members of my community,” he explained. “Touro provided me with the acceptance and assurance that I can pursue a meaningful degree without contradicting where I come from.”