Almost four years ago, Robert A. Moffitt and Arionna Bell's paths crossed when she was a student in his First-Year Seminar. As this semester draws to a close, both are moving on from Johns Hopkins into new chapters of their lives, Bell through graduation as a member of the Class of 2026 and Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics Moffitt through retirement. On the cusp of their respective transitions, we asked them to share their reflections and advice.
It was the inaugural year for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences' First-Year Seminars, 12-member courses designed to spark discussion while creating close-knit cohorts of first-year students and lasting connections with faculty. Bell describes Moffitt's seminar—What Is Poverty? A View From Economics and the Social Sciences—as one of her favorite classes at Hopkins.
'A different avenue'
Moffitt: I'm really happy you took my seminar; you were such an active student in there. The course was for people like you, students who aren't going to major in economics, to be exposed to the world and some of the issues that are out there. I was so happy to see how you carried forward your interest in social policy and people.
Bell: It was a pleasure to be there. You were the ideal professor. We called you our class grandpa because you made us have class outside and enjoy the weather, just talking about econ and policy, and you made it simple for students who didn't have an economics background. I got a great foundation with that. I know what I need to know because of you. I'm so grateful to have taken that First-Year Seminar. It opened a different avenue of how I think about policy, economics, health. It's been so impactful.
Lasting connections
Bell: When you're a first-year pre-med student at Hopkins, you're very focused on "how do I achieve this pre-med pathway that I'm on?" Making the decision to take What is Poverty was a way for me to be like, this is different, but it's also connected. And then to be able to continue throughout my Hopkins journey with community activism, community service, and understanding how sociology and economics and policies blend in with health.
You wrote my recommendation letter for my Fulbright UKSI Program that freshman summer, studying arts and activism in England. After that, I got involved with Hopkins Votes because I saw how policy shapes health outcomes. This year, I've been doing research related to city council policy. It's interesting looking back at these past four years and seeing the thread that's been pulled from the beginning.
Moffitt: The nice thing about these First-Year Seminars is that the students get to meet a professor in a small group setting, and the professor knows the students, interacts with them, knows their personalities. It does give the opportunity to write an informed recommendation letter. I knew Arionna would have a path. You've had such incredible accomplishments, and I'm really looking forward to following you further and knowing how you're doing.
Image credit: Jim Burger for Johns Hopkins University
Next chapters
Bell: After graduation and before med school, I'll be serving as a community health fellow in rural Alabama as part of the Project Horseshoe Farm fellowship. I'm really excited to experience rural health, community health, in a different setting than urban Baltimore.
It's about being a citizen servant. Health is connected to so many different things—like food health, the ability to go to the grocery store, so as fellows we help provide transportation. It's being able to be that good neighbor. We talked in your class about "deaths of despair;" one of the things we're also trying to address with our fellowship is loneliness, people who don't have friends or family or support systems.
Then I plan to go into neonatal surgery.
Moffitt: I have a number of research projects that I want to complete. My area of research is poverty and welfare programs, and there are a lot of things going on right now in Washington that raise a lot of challenges, and there's a lot of discussion going on about ways we can improve the programs and also protect them. I'm planning to continue to participate in that with my work as I always have and just stay very engaged. I like doing research and publishing research articles for other economists, but I also like communicating with the public on policy issues relating to poverty and welfare. There's a lot of work to be done.
Reflections on transition
Moffitt: It's a transition time and you have to go through it, accept it, and value it. You're sorry to leave some things that you really enjoyed, but you have to have the mindset to look forward to the next chapter and think of all the good things that are coming, and value the past things. I find it takes a certain amount of emotional and mental attention to do that right. I don't know if you feel the same way about graduating?
Bell: I do. Immense gratitude for all that's transpired over these past four years but also knowing that it's time to close this chapter. There's something more in the future—I believe every opportunity prepares you for the next, so just having hope and looking to the future for the next thing that you can do and experience and be a part of.
Moffitt: They say that life is full of chapters. You're in the early part; I've had a lot of chapters. Once you get to that point and accept it, you kind of say, OK, now I'm ready.
Bell: I feel ready for graduation. Do you feel ready for retirement?
Moffitt: I feel ready for retirement.
Advice for each other
Moffitt: Follow your instincts and what you like. When you go to medical school, that'll be a new adventure; I'm sure you'll learn a lot about what you like and what you don't like there. Keep your mind open. I have full confidence you're going to do that.
Bell: I don't know if I have any advice for you except to follow your own advice of continuing to explore your interests. Who knows what doors retirement opens? Just always continue to be open, and spend time with your family and cherish your loved ones.
Bell, selected as this year's student Commencement speaker, majored in molecular and cellular biology. She was an actor and stage manager for the Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theater Company; a student co-director of Hopkins Votes; a resident advisor for first-year students; and a clinical leader for the Violet Project. She contributed to brain cancer research as a member of the Lopez-Bertoni lab and interned for the Baltimore City Council. She plans to take a bridge year as a community health fellow in rural Alabama before heading to medical school to become a neonatal surgeon.
As Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics, Moffitt researches labor economics, public economics, econometrics, and population economics. He arrived at Hopkins in 1995 and holds a joint appointment at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Econometric Society, and the Society of Labor Economists; a member of the National Academy of Sciences; a recipient of a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health and a Guggenheim Fellowship; and past president of the Population Association of America and the Society of Labor Economists.
