I loved my oboe, but my parents didn’t. I used to come home late after band practice, shut my bedroom door, and kept my musical life as a separate life from that which I shared with them. They didn’t come to any of my concerts, and even got mad when I decided I wanted to minor in music. I understand--they are afraid that I will not be successful in my field if I become distracted by music. But it’s really important to me. I can’t imagine studying at MIT without a channel in which to express myself.

Eleane K. Lema '21

In 2014, four MIT students created Humans of MIT, a Facebook portrait-blog inspired by Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York, that captures life in the MIT community through a single photo and the subject’s own words.