Among the fun and games at Boris' Block Party - the close to this year's School of Public Health Welcome Week - we caught up with some SPH undergraduates to hear why they chose to study public health and what they hope to do and be in the future! Many of our undergraduates are keenly aware of inequities within our public health systems and plan to use what they learn here at UMD to improve the lives of people in communities outside of their classrooms. We are cheering you on!
Sumaya Abdel-Motagaly '26 talked with five undergraduates about their motivations and hopes for the future.
ZAHRA ISKANDAR, SILVER SPRING, MD
Senior Public Health Science Major
“I wanted to do a degree in public health because for a very long time because I have been interested and passionate about social justice and health care. I found public health to be the intersection of that. What gravitated me towards the field was that it considers all aspects that contribute to our health.
Public health is a multifaceted approach to health care and improving the health of individuals and communities. It’s important to consider the actual people and communities you are serving when working in public health.
AVERY MO, COLUMBIA, MD
Senior Kinesiology Major
“Growing up, I really loved doing martial arts and one day I was trying to figure something out about movement and I couldn’t. My instructor told me to use more power and I didn't understand him at the time. When I thought about it I realized, ‘Oh, force equals mass times acceleration’ and I thought that it was super cool. Once I figured out that SPH emphasizes the broader social determinants of health in the kinesiology department, I was like, I have to do it. I can't just be stuck crunching numbers all day. I need a more holistic thing, because health is all around us.
You can’t disconnect science from social things. The way that we practice is the way that we impact people. We can't look at biology just as biology and we can't look at chemistry as just molecules. We can do bigger things that help others and help our greater world."
REND NEYFEH, ELLICOTT CITY
Senior Kinesiology Major
“I’ve played soccer since I was a little girl and I was always interested in the medical side of it. My dad is a doctor so I’ve always been around the medical field. After my soccer games, my dad would take me with him on hospital rounds to check on his patients.
I just love exercising and I love how exercise affects the human body. Unfortunately, kinesiology is a predominantly white field. The impact that I want to have is: I want to make exercise more available to people of color and people of minority groups. Especially in research, we should not focus only on white people."
NEHA MUPPARAPU, BALTIMORE, MD
Senior Public Health Practice Major
“In sixth grade, I really loved my pediatrician. I was always curious about the technologies and stuff she was using. She let me do things like listen to her heartbeat. As I got into college, I found what was at that time called behavioral and community health [and is now the public health practice major] and thought it was really cool.
I am somebody who has insurance and is privileged to have health care, and yet I have also struggled with the medical system. So now I try to imagine all the experiences of those who do not have access to health care and who have mistrust in the medical system. That's why I decided to pursue public health, to help these communities.
I also really want to go into research, especially because I know there's not a lot of research focusing on people of color or women specifically.”
EMMA ANGELL, BALTIMORE, MD
Senior Public Health Practice Major
“I was always interested in medicine and having a direct impact on improving people's health and well-being. I wanted to study and impact population health and learn about social determinants of health and all these different things that play a role in health besides direct medicine.
I hope to make the world a better place and have an impact on at least one person with whatever I am doing."