As the semester comes to a close and the Class of 2025 prepares to take on next steps, the University of Georgia College of Public Health has selected two graduates to address their classmates and usher in a new era.

Ellery Yasumoto

Ellery Yasumoto is graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion, with an emphasis in Behavioral Medicine. She came to the University of Georgia from San Luis Obispo, California, drawn in by the potential for a big school experience at UGA. Fortunately, the College of Public Health provided an ideal home on campus.

“CPH gave me the best of both worlds: a close-knit, supportive environment within such a large university,” Yasumoto said. “My professors know me, they know my story, and they’ve helped me find my path by genuinely understanding my passions.”

After graduation, Yasumoto is moving to Washington, DC, where she’ll take skills learned in Athens to determine her path forward. She plans to work as a medical assistant to gain more hands-on clinical experience in preparation for medical school but also hopes to explore the legal and policy side of health care to determine if law school is a better fit.

Leaving CPH is bittersweet, Yasumoto said, but along with her degree, she is leaving with lifelong friendships.

“Because we work in cohorts, those classroom friendships naturally grew into real, lasting relationships outside of school,” she said. “And of course, the coursework and the public health initiatives we’ve studied have shaped how I view healthcare — they’ve pushed me to explore every corner of the field and really reflect on where I fit in. I’m still figuring that part out, but I’m excited for the journey.”

Serving as this year’s undergraduate speaker is surreal, Yasumoto said, but also an opportunity she could not turn down. She hopes to strike the right tone in her speech, leaving her peers inspired and ready to take on the world, and she credits her parents for supporting her and giving her the confidence needed to take the stage.

Ellery’s advice: Make sure you’re doing something you genuinely love — and to give yourself permission to change your mind, again and again, as you grow and gain more experience. We only get one lifetime, and it’s too short to spend doing something that doesn’t excite you. Remember the feeling of graduating college, standing at the edge of this new chapter, and believing the world is yours to make the most of.

Caleb Snead

Caleb Snead is a Double Dawg, graduating with his second degree in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, this time a Master of Public Health.

Throughout his five years at UGA and CPH, Snead has remained heavily involved. His work at the CARE Center and through the Fishers of Men Initiative have provided the opportunity to develop and evaluate education for caregivers and first responders, while also evaluating and expanding chronic disease prevention programs across the state of Georgia.

“One of the things I’m very thankful for, at CPH specifically, is that it has opened certain doors for me that I don’t think would have been open in other places,” Snead said. “As long as the door is open, I will do my due diligence to at least check things out and explore. But that door has to be there in the first place.”

The college’s dedication to providing hands-on opportunities for students, while making a difference in our state’s communities, is an embodiment of UGA as a whole, Snead said.

“We are a land grand university, and as a college, we take that very seriously,” Snead said. “Being able to go into these spaces, visit communities, and listen to their needs was a chance to not just talk the talk but also walk the walk. And being in a space where there are faculty and other students that take that mission very seriously has been extremely influential to me and it has shaped the scholar that I am today.”

Snead’s next steps take him out of Athens and to Northwestern University, where he will pursue a PhD in sociology. While this is a step away from his public health roots, his passions remain the same.

“I am 100% public health through and through. That is where my loyalties lie, but studying sociology is a chance to broaden my scope of thinking. I want to understand social policy; I want to understand how communities respond to these things; I want to understand how governments respond to those types of issues. “It’s really about rounding out my knowledge and putting some more tools in my toolbox.”

The chance to speak at graduation is a chance to address his peers during a challenging time in public health. But Snead hopes all fellow graduates step away from the ceremony with hope for the future and with the knowledge that the importance of public health is ever-growing.

“We know that this is a tough time for public health, but it’s still going to be okay. Not only is it going to be okay, we are prepared for this,” he said. “Public health exists to solve issues. That is what we’re here for in the first place.”

Caleb’s advice: One thing that has worked for me is making my bed. It sounds kind of obvious, but when I was growing up, my room was always clean, and I was helpful around the house, but I never made up my bed without being asked. In my junior year of college, I started making it up. And it’s provided a sense of calm.

In a lot of the things we do, we can’t control everything, and that stresses us out. To me, making my bed is something I can do every morning that betters me. So start there— if you want to change the world, start by making your bed.

The College of Public Health’s Graduation Celebration will take place May 9 at 3 p.m. at the Classic Center.