From November 8th to the 14th, Harvard students celebrated the 3rd annual FGLI Visibility Week 2024.  

In this blog, the 2024-2025 Harvard First Generation Program (HFGP) Student Coordinators (Ana '25, Raymond '25, Rafid '25, Lizbeth '26, Melissa '27, and Sarah '28) reflect on their experiences participating in the FGLI Visibility Week activities.

On November 8th, students gathered in front of Boylston Hall for the official launch of Harvard’s 3rd annual, 2024 First-Gen, Low-Income (FGLI) Visibility Week. At the launch, students received a flower bouquet—an FGLI Visibility Week tradition—which marked the first of many events in this year’s exciting iteration.

FGLI Visibility Week is an annual week of events organized by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and its partners that celebrates the diverse FGLI communities at Harvard. Each year, FGLI Visibility Week features an array of social events, professional workshops, dinners with FGLI faculty, and affinity group conversations. More importantly, the week of festivities invites students to reflect on what it means to be an FGLI college student at Harvard and celebrate their accomplishments, as well as the challenges they have overcome. 

This year, HFGP coordinators again had the chance to attend several FGLI Visibility Week events. In this blog, we share our reflections on our favorite experiences at FGLI Visibility Week this year! 

Flower Truck Kick Off - 11/8

What a vibrant way to kick First-Fen Visibility Week off! This is the third year that The Harvard Foundation celebrates National First-Generation Day with a flower truck, gifting beautiful bouquets to honor first-gen students and their journeys in college. This definitely has to be one of my favorite events held every year because of how nice it is to feel seen and recognized. In addition to the flowers, there was yummy food, Polaroid pictures, and fun activities happening at The Foundation. Students were also given a “Harvard First Generation” t-shirt to rock! 

Conversation with Alejandra Campoverdi - 11/8

After the kickoff event, the Harvard Foundation held a conversation with Alejandra Campoverdi, author of First Gen: A Memoir. During this event, the author highlighted key themes from her book, which covers her experience as a first-generation college student who attended the Harvard Kennedy School and worked at the White House as a White House aide under the Obama administration. One quote she highlighted during the conversation, which I (Ana) personally appreciated, was: 

"It is a beautiful thing to be First and Only, the one who disrupts deep-rooted generational patterns to become our ancestors' wildest dreams."

The talk left me with a great sense of ease and empowerment, largely due to the content of the conversation, also due to the effect of seeing somebody like me who has accomplished so many of her goals and who—through her story—is giving back to those who come after her. 

Pre-Professional Panel – 11/9

This pre-professional panel allowed students to hear from upperclassmen and other members of the Harvard community involved in a variety of career pathways. Upon arriving at the event, students were broken up into small panel rooms based on their career interests; I had the pleasure of being one of the attendees for the Pre-Law discussion group!  

Through conversing with fellow Pre-Law students and a few of our amazing upperclassmen house Pre-law tutors, I was able to gain valuable insight on how to explore law-related opportunities inside and outside of campus, gain tips on how to approach the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and learn more about the law school admissions process overall. Having this space to connect and build meaningful relationships with members of the pre-law community was very reassuring and helpful as I have begun to think about life after college!  

FGLI x Latine Affinity Space with Concilio Latino – 11/9 

For the Latine affinity space this year, the Foundation collaborated with Concilio Latino. The event included some delicious arepas and tequeños and centered around a film on the FGLI student experience at Harvard, made by AFVS (Art, Film, and Visual Studies) student Bryant Valenzuela. After the screening of the 15-minute film, there was an open and vulnerable conversation about the FGLI experience. Overall, this was a very heartwarming event!

Resume & LinkedIn Workshop with Mignone Center for Career Services – 11/12

The Mignone Center for Career Services (MCS) provides incredible resources for students preparing to apply for internships, graduate schools, and jobs. At the Resume and LinkedIn Workshop hosted by MCS as part of this year’s FGLI Visibility Week, the MCS did not disappoint!

At the workshop, I (Raymond) learned about the do's and don’ts of resume writing, how LinkedIn fits into the larger profile when applying for jobs, and how to frame my applications based on my previous experiences. Importantly, I realized many things I’ve done provide valuable opportunities and skills to include in an application, even if they are not directly related! I also met many of my first-gen classmates and learned more about my classmates’ life stories. In the end, I and many of my friends left the workshop feeling more prepared to build an effective application, resume, and LinkedIn profile. It was a great professional development experience!

FGLI x Asian American Affinity Space – 11/13

This event was hosted by the Harvard Foundation, in collaboration with the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association. The event hosted a space in the Harvard Foundation’s common room for Asian-American, First-Generation, and/or Low-Income students to congregate and hang out! It was a super informal event with games, snacks, and amazing people, and the event ended up being one of my campus highlights for the semester. I made several new friends across different years, and the event morphed into us sharing silly college stories for hours. From discussing navigating Harvard as first-generation students to crazy freshman-year accounts, I forgot just how bonding the first-generation identity can be at a school like Harvard. That Wednesday night will be one that I remember for a long time. 

FGLI Enhanced Brain Break – 11/13

Enhanced Brain Breaks on Wednesdays for first-years are always fun, but this one in particular had Annenberg filled with students! Paired with nachos and other snacks, students could make bracelets, mix different perfume scents, paint, or even grab a partner and do karaoke! I (Sarah) got to make friendship bracelets with my roommate, and even though they fell apart a few times, it was still so much fun! I got to bond with other first-year students who were also making bracelets and perfumes. I usually don’t go to Brain Break often, but this one was definitely my favorite!

Isa, a Harvard Foundation coordinator, welcomed everyone to the various activities with a warm smile!

A Final Reflection on FGLI Visibility Week 2024

HFGP loved attending the activities during FGLI Visibility Week this year. We had the chance to meet so many new people and celebrate the proud FGLI community on campus. This year‘s FGLI Visibility Week was a success, and we look forward to another great iteration next year!