Community & Culture

My Rollins Story

Students on a campus tour walking by the Rollins Building

Public Health Makes Sense Here

Many come to Rollins with one goal in mind—to make a difference. Students, recent graduates, and faculty talk about why they chose public health and what role Rollins plays in their stories.

“Public health is a team sport.” 

Emilio Loret De Mola, MPH ‘26 in Epidemiology, LGBTQ+ health advocate and researcher

“I was involved in a research project created in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. People are the focus of my work. I want them to be a part of the research design. I wanted to have faculty members who were instrumental in my growth.” 

The Rollins Difference

“Help and assistance come to you even before you ask. Even before I started classes, I realized I made the right decision. During orientation, I realized everyone was so nice, and I could really see the efforts the Rollins community was making to help every student succeed.” 

Emmanuel Larweh-Lomotey, MPH ’25 in Environmental Health

Physician from Ghana with a focus on maternal health

"Everyone was feeling the same way—that they hadn’t found their community. Then I realized, if we all haven't found our community yet, this is the community, right? I can say confidently that I know most of the people in my cohort. It was up to me to build the community, and I feel really good about that."

Neil Gutlay, MPH ‘25 in Biostatistics

Premed student and HIV counselor

“Rollins has been a great launching pad for my career in nutrition.” 

Gabriella Salazar, MPH ‘26 in Epidemiology, Nutrition-focused researcher

“A lot of the research that I’ve been a part of has been of extremely high quality. Even the research happening [here] is oftentimes translated back into the community—turning that into a way that I can really help people with public health.” 

Connecting Consulting to Public Health

“I’ve learned a lot about how to navigate the field of public health. My previous work experience was more focused on the business side of health care. Now, I have a better understanding of community work as well, which gives me great perspective." 

- Cindy Cheng, MPH ’24 in Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Former health care consultant

 

Physicians Study Public Health at Rollins

“I wanted to find more effective ways to design health education interventions. Before coming to Rollins, I was a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I primarily cared for older adults with disabilities. I found that many of them had a hard time engaging in physical activity—especially once they returned home. That’s what led me to the field of public health.” 

- Sho Takeuchi, MPH ‘23 in Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Physician focused on physical medicine and rehabilitation

 

Serving Others

“The more different you are, the more people you can serve. Public health felt super, super interesting—and it felt so inclusive. I can be a French native speaker and Black, and I can also want to stay in the United States and serve people who look like me—but also serve people who don't look like me.” 
 

Safina Theard-Lewis, MPH ‘25 in Health Care Management

Student government leader and communications strategist

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