Class Of 2021

• We understand you now have a position at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Could you explain what you do and what is rewarding about your job?

I’ve been working at KFF for about a year now, after having an internship there the summer following my graduation from the PHS program. It’s been a very rewarding experience thus far. I work in KFF’s Program on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) studying and tracking key aspects of the ACA and its impact on insurance markets. I also work on the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, which monitors how well the U.S. healthcare system is performing in terms of health and wellbeing, access and affordability, quality of care, and health spending. The best part of my job is being able to see the direct impact of my work on how health policy issues are covered in the media, developed by policymakers, and understood by the public. Being able to inform these discussions, using a nonpartisan lens, while also taking the perspective of healthcare consumers, is incredibly rewarding.

• Since graduating from Hopkins undergrad, what has your path looked like? How have your career interests evolved?

When I graduated Hopkins undergrad, I knew I was interested in health policy. I had worked at a variety of research groups in undergrad and under a few different professors, including working on the National Survey of Children’s Health and related child health policy resources with Prof. Christina Bethell and on post-lockdown aquatic facility re-opening policy with Prof. Tara Kirk Sell. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue academia, public service, or some sort of middle ground at a private institution or non-profit. I always knew, whatever I did, I wanted it to be research-intensive and to never lose sight of the people I wanted to help. After interning at KFF in the summer of 2021, I knew that this organization’s mission fit exactly with what I wanted to do, informing health policy discussions with relevant and timely research. Within the research I’ve conducted over the past few years, my interests have evolved from being interested in LGBTQ+ health policy to how costs can impact health care access and population health. I’m still figuring out what areas I’m really interested in, but I know I lies somewhere in between the previously mentioned topics.

• How did your time at JHU (as an undergrad) develop your interest in this field? Did JHU and Public Health Studies prepare you for grad school and your current role? How so?

My time at JHU as an undergraduate absolutely influenced my interest in this field. The PHS program had such broad course offerings that I was able to get a taste of every aspect of public health before finally settling on health policy. Likewise, my Applied Experience also deeply influenced me. I worked at the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI) with Prof. Bethell. My work with Prof. Bethell allowed me to see how she informed policy discussions with data and evidence and was able to build evidence over the course of her career to create new models of addressing childhood trauma. I also learned so much about the research process from her. The PHS program prepared me extremely well for grad school, not just by requiring us to take grad school classes but also through challenging us in seminar style courses and mastering research process in our methods courses. The undergraduate honors thesis program with Dr. Ann Herbert was probably the most influential set of courses I took because it allowed me to really dive into the research process and to gain an intimate understanding of academia. It also prepared me extremely well for my current role because of the intensive data analysis and written research manuscript required with the program.

• What was your undergraduate experience like in a pandemic and as a student athlete?  How did you balance your commitments?

The undergraduate experience was different in the pandemic. Sadly, I do feel that I missed out on some essential experiences because of the pandemic. I didn’t have any classes in person from the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 through the second quarter of my first graduate year in December 2021. Luckily, I don’t feel like I missed out on any learning because of the transition to Zoom and recorded lectures. I also didn’t feel that I missed out on anything being a student-athlete. I was able to compete during the first year of graduate school, and thus was able to finish my swimming career with a complete season. Balancing commitments was definitely a challenge, but time management is something that I think became second nature after starting to balance a full courseload and two practices a day in high school. It took a lot of discipline and the ability to know my limits.

• Any advice for PHS undergraduates as they navigate how and what to pursue after JHU?

I think the best advice I can give is to find something that motivates you and trust that the rest will follow. The PHS program and the Bloomberg School have ample opportunities to find what you’re passionate about, so use it to the best of your ability, these resources shouldn’t be taken for granted.