Oumou Sylla
From Curiosity to Public Health
When Oumou K.D. Sylla (AC’16) arrived at UWC Atlantic, she was already familiar with adapting to new environments. Originally from Senegal, she had grown up moving around and living in several different countries. Even so, her journey to Atlantic College began with uncertainty. Visa delays meant that she arrived a month or two after the start of term, and she worried that friendships had already formed and that settling in would be difficult.
Those concerns vanished the moment she reached Gwynedd House.
Waiting for her was a banner that read “Welcome Oumou”, held by housemates gathered at the door with smiles and open arms. The warmth of that reception left a lasting impression. In a single moment, she felt that she belonged.
Beyond the setting of a castle on the Welsh coast, what struck Oumou most was the energy of the community. Students from dozens of countries lived and learned together, bringing different languages, cultures and experiences into everyday conversation. It was a place where curiosity about the world was not merely encouraged but expected.
“UWC Atlantic gave me the courage to ask bigger questions, the tools to start answering them and the people who made me believe it was worth trying.”
Before she arrived, Oumou was convinced she wanted to become a doctor. Science had always interested her, and medicine seemed like the clearest path to helping people. What she had not yet explored was why she was drawn to medicine, or what kind of impact she ultimately hoped to have. Atlantic College became the place where those deeper questions began to emerge, and two experiences proved especially transformative.
The first was her chemistry teacher, Mich. Before AC, science classes had often felt like something to get through rather than enjoy. Mich changed that completely. His enthusiasm for chemistry was infectious, and he made complex ideas feel exciting and approachable. For the first time, Oumou found herself looking forward to science lessons. That shift, from seeing science as a hurdle to seeing it as something worth exploring, would stay with her long after graduation.
The second was community service. Through the social justice team, she spent time visiting elderly members of the local community, listening to their stories and offering companionship. Those conversations taught her the importance of being fully present with another person. The experience reinforced a lesson that no classroom could teach: sometimes listening is as powerful as solving.
That understanding deepened when she became a peer listener, supporting fellow students through periods of stress, homesickness and personal difficulties. The role taught her how to sit with discomfort, build trust and create space for honest conversations. She came to see these as essential skills, particularly in fields that involve working with communities and navigating complex human realities.
Gradually, Oumou realised that what fascinated her most was not medicine itself, but the systems surrounding health. She became increasingly interested in questions such as why certain populations carry a disproportionate burden of disease, why resources are distributed unevenly and how health systems can better serve those most in need. AC helped her connect scientific thinking with questions of justice and equity, and that combination ultimately pointed her toward public health.
Today, Oumou works as a Regional Epidemiologist with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), supporting malaria surveillance across Francophone West and Central Africa and Sierra Leone. Her work involves helping ministries of health improve data quality, estimate disease burden, identify reporting gaps and make better-informed decisions about where resources should be directed. It is highly technical work, but also deeply relational, requiring collaboration across countries, institutions and communities.
The values she developed at UWC Atlantic remain central to her professional life. Cultural sensitivity, curiosity and the ability to listen are skills she draws on every day. Working across diverse national and institutional contexts requires understanding different perspectives and respecting different realities, an approach she traces directly back to her time at AC.
Looking back, Oumou can now see a clear connection to the questions she began asking at AC and the career she has built across Africa’s public health landscape. Atlantic College gave her more than an education.
“UWC Atlantic gave me the courage to ask bigger questions, the tools to start answering them and the people who made me believe it was worth trying.”
