Rollins Love

We all planned to leave Rollins on graduation day with a world class education, but looking back, many RSPH alumni cherish the community and lifelong relationships they formed along the way. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d share the stories of couples and friends that might have never met, if it wasn’t for their Rollins connection.

Lauren Canary 14PH and Shannon Clawson 17PH didn’t plan to find love at a Rollins house party in 2015 but sometimes that’s just how things work out! The couple is now engaged to be married.

Diya Raheja 17PH and Kushal Naik 16PH were both born and raised in Mumbai, India. Unbeknownst to each other, destiny brought them several thousand miles away from home to find one another at Rollins! Kushal moved to Atlanta in the fall of 2014 and Diya in the fall of 2015. They started dating while at Rollins – strolls through Lullwater Park, dinner at Mellow Mushroom, and salsa classes at the WoodPEC, and study breaks in the basement. The couple now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and are colleagues at the same health policy consulting firm. They married in June 2020 and remember the time they spent at Rollins as some of the most wonderful memories of their lives.

For Ha Truong 19PH, Tiffany Pomares 19PH, Zara Khan 19PH, Anna Wood 19PH, Jennifer Lowe 19PH, Ayomide Sokale 19PH, Asa Ohsaki 19PH, and Kayilan Baker 19PH, what started out as acquaintances and study groups turned into lasting friendships during their second year at Rollins. After graduation, the friends found themselves scattered across the country in three different time zones but that hasn’t hindered their friendship! Slack and video chats have helped keep their connection to one another as strong as ever. The friends have plans to resume their shenanigans in-person with a long awaited beach vacation as soon as they are able where they will all “turn off their phones and never once mention the word COVID". All are vaccinated and ready to travel!

Aditi Arora 18PH met best friend, Cassidy Artz 17PH, during her first year at Rollins. The friends met in HPM 502: Introduction to Healthcare Management and connected instantaneously. Over the next few months, their friendship grew and by summer they were best friends. Aditi fondly recalls how much fun they had together as Rollins students -- working out at Flywheel, exploring local vineyards, and eating their way through Publix! Aditi now lives in Chicago but she and Cassidy are still closer than ever. She is grateful to Rollins for being the catalyst for meeting this forever friend.