From Philosophy to Public Health

Kashay grew up in a community in Baltimore City where affordability of healthcare, health literacy, and access to consistent care prevented people from flourishing at home, work, and school. She didn’t recognize the disparity in access to healthcare until she began socializing with her peers who lived in more affluent areas and realized the differences between communities.

In 2015, Kashay heard about Central Scholarship from her high school college counselor. She received her first award in 2015 which helped with her undergraduate costs at Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore, where she graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and a minor in Biology. When she was accepted to graduate school, she decided to reapply for a Central Scholarship award to offset the cost of her degree. She is incredibly grateful for the support she has received from Central Scholarship and ecstatic to graduate from Johns Hopkins with a Master’s in Health Administration in 2021.

Kashay’s interest in pursuing a career in public health came from her background in philosophy. Aristotle introduced the notion of eudaimonia, or human flourishing. He argued that human actions are all based on our desire to flourish, which is the highest good attainable in life. She pondered the variety of circumstances people could find themselves in, which would prevent them from attaining eudaimonia. The health inequities she witnessed, growing up, was certainly a roadblock.

Her philosophy is that every individual has a right to flourish over their lifetime—a feat that cannot be accomplished without attaining and maintaining a certain threshold of health. Kashay has made it her mission to increase health care access and equitable delivery of health care services to encourage all human beings to flourish.

We continued to be inspired by the work she does and impressed by her diligence. Keep up the admirable work, Kashay!