May 28, 2009 -- Sichuan native Emily Zeng was always curious about life and education beyond mainland China. When she learned about Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology’s excellent training programs online, her interest was piqued. Now a doctoral graduate of Ferkauf, she did not realize then how her journey would eventually come full circle. A year ago, Zeng, then a fourth-year school-clinical child psychology student, learned about the magnitude-8.0 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people and wounded and displaced hundreds of thousands in her home province. With the help of Ferkauf Professors Louise Silverstein and Carl Auerbach and support from Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel, Zeng traveled back to Sichuan to work with families suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She also joined with other Chinese volunteers to establish makeshift schools for children living in the affected areas. When asked if any of her own family members were injured, Zeng responded at the time, “They are all my family.” For her dissertation, Zeng focused on parenting stress in international adoptions from China. “I set out to do research related to, and potentially benefiting, both China and the US,” she said. “International adoption is a controversial topic with all sorts of complexities. I kept getting inquires from adoptive parents long after I closed my data collection.” Zeng hopes someday to make a documentary on special needs adoptions from China. In the meantime, she would like to continue her earthquake relief work now that she has graduated. She said she was grateful for the opportunity to apply her newfound expertise in her native country. “I want to thank Yeshiva and Ferkauf for nurturing and caring for me throughout the years,” she said, “especially in times of crisis like last summer.” Next profile: Bat-Sheva Maslow, new mother and graduate of Einstein, plans residency in obstetric-gynecology