Julia Moses discovered that growth often begins with discomfort—and that the questions that seem hardest to answer can lead to the most meaningful work.
At A Glance
Alum
Julia Moses
Program
BS in Applied Psychology (2019)
Graduate Programs
MA in Developmental Psychology, CUNY (2024)
MPhil in Psychology, CUNY (2025)
Professional Pathway
PhD Student in Development Psychology, CUNY
Be ready to be wrong and be ready to feel unsure of your place. Keep an open mind and let the professors and program challenge you and push you to your limit. You will leave with lifelong friends and a deep understanding of applied psychology."
The Lesson Hidden in a Hard Class
During her first semester at NYU Steinhardt, Julia Moses faced a moment she would never forget. In Dr. Melzi’s developmental psychology class, she found herself wading through dense journal articles and puzzling over unfamiliar research methods. The readings seemed to stretch on forever, and the relentless pace left her breathless. Despite her determination, she finished with a B-, one of the lowest grades she had ever received.
Yet, like many of life’s best lessons, the true value of that experience only became clear with time.
That class transformed the way Julia approached research. She learned not just to summarize articles, but to pause and unravel how studies were constructed, why researchers asked certain questions, and what the findings revealed about children’s development. The challenge pushed her to think differently. Rather than feeling defeated, she felt her curiosity bloom.
From Student to Researcher
The next year, Julia stepped into Dr. Melzi’s research lab, where she would spend two transformative years. She shifted from reading about research to helping conduct it. Through projects on language development and early learning environments, she witnessed how developmental psychology touched the daily lives of families and children. The lab became her launching pad, turning her interest into a clear sense of purpose. She began to envision herself as a researcher.
Julia’s journey, like many quests for purpose, was anything but linear. As she pursued her Applied Psychology degree at NYU, with a minor in sociology and a focus on child and adolescent mental health, she gravitated toward hands-on research. She contributed to studies on how caregiver stress and home language environments shape early language development, and interned at Bellevue Hospital, strengthening parent-child bonds in pediatric health care.
Following New Questions
After graduating in 2019, Julia’s curiosity propelled her into a predoctoral research fellowship at Yale University’s Holmes Laboratory. There, she gathered neuroimaging data for ambitious studies exploring the brain networks behind affective and psychotic disorders. This work opened the door to clinical neuroscience and the dynamic teamwork of large-scale research.
Today, Julia is a PhD candidate in Developmental Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center, delving into the mysteries of early emotional and cognitive development. She investigates how temperament and attention shape the ways children respond to the world around them.
When Julia speaks to students considering Applied Psychology, she offers a simple but powerful message: Be prepared to be wrong. Be open to feeling out of place. Those moments are often signs that you are truly learning.
For Julia, the class that once felt overwhelming became the spark that ignited her career in research. What started as a struggle revealed the path she was meant to take, marking the quiet beginning of a lifelong journey to understand how children grow and learn.
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