Guest Post: Taylor Pons from the First-Gen Program by DJ Rock

One of the coolest parts of my job is that I actually get to spend a lot of time outside of the Office of Admissions (or currently, on Zoom calls) getting to know staff members who work at MIT in different roles who are also passionate about advocating for equity and inclusion. Here’s a guest post from one of those awesome people who make the MIT community what it is!

Hey there MIT Blogs!

I’m Taylor, and I work in the Office of the First Year with the First-Gen Program! My one fun fact is that I was trending one time on Twitter (lol).

Did you know that MIT’s undergraduate population is 18% first gen? For students who are the first person in their families to go to college, their university experience may look very different than their peers with educational capital. Simultaneously, their unique skills allow first gen students to stand out from the crowd. At MIT, the First Gen Program is a tight community, and it always wants to welcome students to connect to resources and other peers (peep @mitfgp on Instagram to stay up to date with all the fun things we’re doing).

I also wanted to say a huge a welcome to the Class of 2024! This Friday at CP*, we’ll be hosting a First-Gen/Low Income Experience Panel with 4 outstanding students talking about their experiences and all of these topics. Check your CP* guide for the link!

This year, to show off our pride in being First Gen, we planned a poster series around campus. For obvious reasons that didn’t happen, but we still wanted to show you what you came up with. Hope you enjoy!

You can always email [email protected] with any questions!