Four SPHHS Students Featured in UMass Amherst Senior Series
The series celebrates graduating seniors who achieved their goals, inspired others, and make the UMass community proud.
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Four graduating seniors from the Public Health Sciences program — Gabrielle Dieu, Hellen Muma, Clare Sheedy, and Maíra Lima Silva — are featured in the 2023 UMass Amherst Senior Series, which celebrates students who achieved their goals, inspired others, and make the UMass community proud. The series began in 2018 as a way to highlight graduating students and share their stories. These students — nominated by peers, faculty, and staff — are already making their mark on the world.
Gabrielle Dieu
"Choosing public health was a pivotal aspect of my time at UMass because I found that it incorporated many things I have always been passionate about: advocacy, opioid addiction, healthcare inequity, etc. In many ways, it has taught me about my personal privileges and the power in leveraging them for the greater good."
Hellen Muma
"I chose my major of public health because with public health, I am able to learn the skills to promote health, prevent disease, and protect communities.
My passion for public health is driven by my desire to give back to my homeland of Kenya and improve the health profile of the black community here in the United States. Kenya has experienced a rise in non-communicable diseases, an ongoing HIV epidemic, and the prevalence of malaria. I believe the current health profile of the black community in the United States can be attributed to Institutional, interpersonal, and internalized racism that has prevailed through the development of the United States as a nation. African Americans have the worst health profile of any ethnic group in the country and it continues to worsen every year.
I wish to make it my lifelong commitment to improve the life expectancy and quality of life and eliminate the incidence of disease.”
Clare Sheedy
“John Lewis is a huge inspiration to me, so much so that I have Good Trouble tattooed on my arm. I wish he wasn't an inspiration, because that would mean we lived in a world free of social justice issues.”
Maíra Lima Silva
"My parents are my biggest source of inspiration. As a daughter who gets to attend a top public institution like UMass Amherst to pursue higher education, I always remind myself that such a privilege comes as a result of my parent’s sacrifice over many years.
The day I got my acceptance letter from UMass, my proud father turned to me and said 'When we visited campus and walked by the science laboratories, it made me want to go back to school.' I carry this moment with me forever as a reminder of how my family values education and the resources and opportunities that my parents were not so easily afforded.
Four years ago, I graduated high school in Cabo Verde and was not sure I would be able to move to the US to pursue higher education. My parents have inspired and supported me throughout my years in school and today I can wholeheartedly say that they are my role models and biggest supporters. I am grateful for them and for the amazing opportunities I have had during my time at UMass."