TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. For students committed to public service and hoping to study at the Harvard School of Public Health, a debt that big can feel crushing. But a scholarship that big can grant students the freedom to choose a career that’s rewarding, regardless of the financial compensation.

At HSPH, six students are chosen each year to receive a $20,000 Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship on the basis of need and merit. The fellowships, created in 2005 to support aspiring public servants, were endowed with a generous gift from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation by foundation trustee Richard L. Menschel, MBA ’59, a senior director at Goldman Sachs and member of HSPH’s Dean’s and Leadership councils.

Here, three of 11 current and former Goldsmith Fellows share why they came to HSPH and their plans for the future. Meet Roland Matsouaka, Natalie Slopen, and Goodarz Danaei.

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Katharine Dunn has reported on advances in science, medicine, and global health for publications that include the Boston Globe, Technology Review, and Harvard Magazine.