The Many Lives of Akash Patel

Epic linguist, mathematician and cultural connector turned grief over his brother's death into something grand

Akash Patel is shown after being named a contender for the Global Teacher Prize. Courtesy photo.

After traveling to numerous countries and speaking six languages, Epic’s own Akash Patel is more than just an ELT instructor. 

Patel has also worked with Epic as a Math+ teacher and a one-on-one educator. Aside from being the ELT instructor, Patel is also the Mock Trial coach for the Epic Oklahoma City team. He has accomplished a great deal in his career, and has gained much wisdom and experience. Not all of it has come smoothly. 

Patel first came to the United States to study engineering but later on decided teaching was his calling. 

“That’s the stereotype for young Indian men. You can either be an engineer, doctor, a lawyer, or, quite frankly, a disgrace to the family,” Patel joked. 

Patel and his twin brother, Happy, traveled to the cornfields of Ames, Iowa, with scholarships to study nuclear engineering and computer engineering. 

“I didn't visualize myself for the next 30 years working with nuclear reactors,” Patel said. 

He got an internship to travel to India with the chair of the American Nuclear Society. She told him that he had great speaking skills and suggested he think about what he could do with his talent.

In December 2009, the Patel twins left their scholarships and used their savings to buy an SUV, even though they had no idea how to drive in the snow. The two drove to Oklahoma, where they had an uncle. They ended up going to Oklahoma City Community College, where Patel got his associates in liberal studies and his brother got his in business. While in Chickasha, Akash Patel met individuals who were recruiting students to attend their school and become teachers. They had a shortage of math, science and special needs teachers, so they gave him a scholarship.

Turning grief into good 

Akash Patel is the founder of the Happy World Foundation, which is named after his twin brother. On April 9, 2018, Happy Patel was killed in a plane crash in Arizona. 

“That was the lowest moment of my life,” Akash Patel said. 

Wanting to honor his brother’s memory, he decided to do something meaningful. Three weeks later, Patel returned home to his school in Dallas, where his students had raised $1,500 for his expenses. Instead of keeping the money, he gave it back to the students.

Happy Patel and Akash Patel are shown above. Happy Patel's death in 2018 spurred his grief-stricken brother to create the Happy World Foundation in his honor. Courtesy photo.

When he returned the following Monday, the cafeteria was filled with Happy Meals for the homeless. 

“I realized I could do something bigger to leave this world a happier place than where I found it,” Patel said. 

The result: the Happy World Foundation, which connects students virtually to speakers around the world who explain their culture and traditions. 

Today, the Happy World Foundation continues to grow, carrying on the spirit of Happy Patel by helping communities and reminding others that even small acts of kindness can make a lasting difference. 

Patel was also the first immigrant president of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, an association of 15,000 language educators. His job was to make sure that every American child has an opportunity to learn English and another language. He currently serves as the chairman of the United Nations Association of the United States. In that role, he gets to promote American interests at the United Nations.

He related his outreach to teaching.

“I feel like teaching is the most noble profession, that if we can shape our young people, not, you know, not indoctrinate them on the left or the right, all I was doing is connecting students with people,” he said. 

Patel's international work doesn't just involve diplomacy and raising awareness. Much of it, in fact, is hands-on and dirty. And that  is one of his students' favorite topics. Patel learned to work with elephants with his family in India, some of whom are elephant caretakers. And he learned to make "elephant-poo" art paper.

Unlike humans, elephants eat 500 pounds of grass every day, which creates plenty of dung. “You can take it, wash it, and turn it into beautiful, biodegradable paper,” Patel said. 

In 2015, he partnered with the world's biggest elephant dung paper company, Poo Poo Paper Inc. The company shipped him 100,000 pieces of dung paper for his classes.