Through the summer, we'll be posting stories of some of our outstanding 2026 graduates. Check our news pages or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to read these as they're posted.
From Boise, Idaho, to College Park, Maria Mika Graviet – a May 2026 Master of Public Health graduate in Couple and Family Therapy and a Dean’s Graduate Scholar – has continuously connected with the people around her.
“I’m the middle child and was a mediator quite a lot,” she said of growing up in Idaho with four sisters. “I’ve been used to caring for people and making sure everyone’s happy.”
After earning a nursing degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Graviet spent four years at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a cardiovascular nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. There, she developed a deep understanding about secondary trauma and processing grief.
“How do people cope after going through such an intense experience and experiencing so much change to their body?” Graviet said.
The experience helped inspire her to go back to school to learn another way to support people and families.
We consistently heard from students that Mika made them feel comfortable, supported and genuinely cared for in the classroom.
Today, Graviet prioritizes helping others through mental health struggles and relationship dynamics, including through a seminar-based class called Be Well that she taught at UMD under SPH Assistant Professor Amy Morgan that helps students develop mental health coping skills.
“We consistently heard from students that Mika made them feel comfortable, supported and genuinely cared for in the classroom,” Morgan said.
Graviet highlighted the importance of these conversations, especially for traditional college-age students.
"Your early twenties are a really important time for mental health,” Graviet said. “College tends to expose students to unique stressors that they've never had to navigate before."
Graviet, who also received the Jeanette Spier Beavers Endowed Memorial Scholarship, said she prioritizes blending emotional and physical healing in the spaces she works in. She emphasizes a holistic approach to health and loves to integrate somatic approaches, which incorporate both mind and body, into her therapy.
She finds a purpose in community. Graviet loves to laugh and do things with friends and family, from playing the card game Covering Your Assets to hiking Grindelwald-First in Switzerland. She also enjoys cooking, reading and jogging – and has completed three half marathons over the years in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Graviet is passionate about social justice and improving systemic issues, topics she finds inherent in public health.
“For example, if I'm working with a couple, gender dynamics and how society views different gender roles plays heavily into dynamics in the room, as well as potential conversations around identity and LGBTQ+ rights,” Graviet said.
Her interest in social justice also powers Graviet’s love of plays; she was a theater minor as an undergraduate. “It’s very accessible,” Graviet said. “It’s a beautiful way to connect with yourself and the community and to advocate for social justice.”
She advises people to use resources both inside and outside their school or employer, including SPH’s Center for Healthy Families, where Graviet interned.
However, she also emphasizes the importance of being in tune with oneself.
“A lot of that ground work can be done on your own,” she said. “Anyone at any time can learn foundational skills to support their mental health.”
She believes that relationships are everything, gaining her energy from teaching classes and conducting therapy, an experience she finds electric.
“You really just sit there in awe of human connection and how willing people are to communicate in deeply vulnerable ways with the most important people in their lives. ”
- By Rachel Kebler