Carl Cacciotti 

At age 54, Carl Cacciotti is about to begin the third act of his very full life. 

Right out of high school, Carl joined the Marine Corps. He followed up that intense experience by building cabinets from his store on River Street in Troy, while also creating a family. Now, he’s completing his master’s at Sage in the School of Health Sciences, preparing him to become a Nurse Practitioner.  

This appears to be quite the winding path, but the way Carl sees it he’s coming full circle. 

“I’ve always wanted to help people,” he says. “I guess it started with the Marine Corps and will finish with nursing. My motivation and drive to become a nurse, as well as the motivation throughout my life, the majority of that derived from my experience in the Marine Corps. They gave me a sense of truth, justice and honor that will remain with me until the day I die.”

Only just starting on his nurse practitioner career, we might expect Carl to feel frustrated that he’s getting such a late start. He’s not in the least.

“I don’t care about retirement,” he says. “I’m interested in helping people.”

Carl worked at Albany Stratton VA Medical Center, and then did the last 100 hours of clinicals at St. Mary’s hospital in Troy, in the COVID fever clinic. If he could have, he says, he would have headed to New York City to help with the crisis there.

“You do your duty,” is how he explains this impulse.

But there’s more to Carl’s drive. When he was young he didn’t care about his education. When he was in high school he was mostly concerned about having as much fun as possible. College was never on his radar.

That’s all changed. He’s mostly aced his courses at Sage, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree.

“The teachers have been wonderful,” he says. “It’s been a great experience. I hope maybe someday I can teach others myself.”

In other words, the third act may not be the final one. We probably shouldn’t be surprised.