In the local area and beyond, you can find graduates of the HFM Career and Technical Center working in just about every industry and career field. CTE Alumni Spotlight will introduce you to some of our many graduates highlighting the pathways their education and training helped make possible.
Meet CTE alumni Victoria Luft
Victoria (Guisti) Luft, a 2013 Broadalbin-Perth graduate, has been working as a registered nurse at St. Mary’s Health Care in Amsterdam for the last six years, and she credits the Medical Assisting program at the HFM Career and Technical Center for getting her career started.
During the early days of the pandemic, Luft was recognized by a local TV news station for her work at St. Mary’s.
After high school, Luft attended Fulton-Montgomery Community College and the Belanger School of Nursing. She says HFM Medical Assisting Instructor Joanne Wood helped her choose a nursing school and served as a reference for her. At St. Mary’s, she now works on the floor where she did a clinical rotation while at HFM.
“The HFM Medical Assisting program allows you to see all aspects of the healthcare field,” Luft said. “My advice for Medical Assisting students is to have an idea of what you’re interested in and ask for a clinical rotation in that field. But, keep an open mind for all the rotations because you may find an interest in a department you didn’t even know existed.”
As an RN at St. Mary’s, Luft is involved with direct care for medical, surgical, and COVID patients. She also produces the schedule for RNs, LPNs and CNAs for two floors.
In the future, Luft says, her goal is to go back to school for her bachelor’s degree and eventually become a nurse practitioner.
