Harvard hosts six different Pre-Orientation Programs for incoming first-years that take place shortly before the start of their first semester. I decided to participate in the First Year Retreat Experience, or FYRE, and I am confident that it is one of my best decisions I’ve made at Harvard so far. 

Like the other Pre-Orientation Programs offered, FYRE has a special focus and caters to students with a specific interest or identity. FYRE is a program that aims to connect students from underrepresented backgrounds - especially those from first-generation, low-income backgrounds - with the resources that Harvard offers. The program aims to connect students with offices at Harvard that deliver these resources, including the Mignone Center for Career Success (MCS), the Harvard Library, the Academic Resource Center (ARC), student FGLI networks (such as PRIMUS), and the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Office. 

Hearing directly from the offices that serve Harvard students and learning how these resources can be accessed immediately put me at ease as I realized that, despite the concerns I might have about starting my first year, there would be resources to help me thrive. We were encouraged to ask questions and voice our concerns about starting our first year. The advisers and staff we talked to responded to our questions with lots of helpful insight, and overall, they fostered the idea that asking for help was something normal and even productive. As I went into my first year, I had already been familiarized not only with the resources available to help me navigate my classes, social life, and professional opportunities, but also had begun to change my view of what asking for help actually meant. 

While exposing students to the resources available to them is already a huge help to students from underrepresented backgrounds, my favorite thing that FYRE does is connect students with other students. FYRE is led by two co-chairs and 32 Team Leaders (TLs), who are all current Harvard undergrads from underrepresented and/or first-generation, low-income backgrounds. These Team Leaders, along with about 10-12 “FYREflies,” make up our FYRE Families. Within these families, students reflect on the resources that were covered during our programming, have bonding activities, and build a small community. 

Even after receiving my acceptance letter, I had many doubts about my ability to not just survive, but thrive at Harvard. However, meeting the Team Leaders and listening to their experiences confirmed what should have been obvious: I belong at Harvard.

Furthermore, the Team Leaders host office hours for students to ask them questions about their majors, extracurricular activities, or navigating Harvard in the context of a certain identity. The diversity of our Team Leaders reveals something unique about FGLI students on our campus: we are not a monolith. Each student comes in with a different background, different academic needs, and thus needs different mentors to help them make the transition into college. Having such a diverse group of Team Leaders - who each have different academic backgrounds, extracurricular interests, ethnic and racial identities, sexual orientations, and come from many different places in the US and beyond - allows incoming students to not just to learn from their Team Leaders' experiences, but also reinforce their belonging at Harvard. This feeling of belonging was something that I struggled with before my first year. Even after receiving my acceptance letter, I had many doubts about my ability to not just survive, but thrive at Harvard. However, meeting the Team Leaders and listening to their experiences confirmed what should have been obvious: I belong at Harvard.

If you are a member of the Class of 2026, I strongly encourage you to participate in FYRE this summer! It is my favorite community on campus, and you will meet some amazing people along the way. Until then, congrats! You belong at Harvard :)