Mary L. Peng, MPH ’23 (Social & Behavioral Sciences), is an explorer by nature, a seeker of knowledge in as many ideas and fields as she can absorb. As an undergrad, she majored in global studies with a double minor in philosophy and anthropology. It was COVID-19 that helped her find her purpose and sharpened her focus. The pandemic led to her decision to pursue a MPH at YSPH. And it was also the time when she began drawing. During the pandemic, Peng realized “everything I thought about through philosophy, anthropology, and global studies was playing out in how the health crisis was unfolding, in the social upheavals that stemmed from all sorts of bigotries, -isms, and power struggles,” she said. “The intense anger that health was being weaponized to serve some political purposes, coupled with that stubborn hope that maybe, just maybe, I can do something to make a change, small or big, in people’s and society’s pursuit of health, drove me to public health.” Peng is passionate abou...