Unlike most PhDs, I grew up socioeconomically disadvantaged. Neither of my parents went to college #firstgen. When I was born, the WIC program paid for my formula and food for my mom. When I ate lunch in high school, I paid less than everyone else, while working a part time 1/10

job after football and wrestling practice.

When I went to college, I was fortunate to receive generous grants because my family made so little our expected contribution was $0. I still had to do work study, and many years of undergrad I worked another job on top of that. 2/10

I had to work as many hours as I could each summer to make it through the coming school year.

I had roommates and peers tell me they were "poor" because of how limited the amount of money their parents gave them each month while I was trying to decide how to make sure I 3/10

could pay for gas and food.

When I interviewed for grad school, most schools questioned how little lab work I had while completely ignoring working 2 jobs junior and senior year while maintaining a high GPA.

When I went to my PhD program, almost all of my peers had parents 4/10

with some degree, many with a master's or higher. Many of my peers had family supporting them, while I was helping support my family.

When choosing a postdoc position, the first question was where I could afford to live and fully support myself. I was fortunate to find UNC 5/10

as an incredible comprise in world class science and affording housing. I had always thought about pursuing academia, but the years of uncertainty for a potentially stable job one day were too risky to face. 6/10

Having no family security blanket pushed me into a non-academic consulting position. While I do currently love my job, I still imagine the impact I could have had on trainees from similar backgrounds, but I simply couldn't risk my own financial stability for such an uncertain7/10

academic future.

All of this is to say, I never felt like I belonged in academia. I will never forget how many peers in grad school and my postdoc questioned why I simply didn't buy a house. I've never lived in one, I have only known apartment life.8/10

I'll never forget all of the people I knew whose families were subsidizing their life while I was trying to make sure I had enough to get by. 9/10

While I am a white male, if academia wants to change to be more inclusive it needs to change to provide opportunities for those from low socioeconomic families 10/10

Wow this really blew up! To add that y'all need to be more careful in your wording about how much STEM PhDs are paid. I remember seeing things like "taken advantage of" while I made more than my mom who is a nurses aid in a nursing home. Shows the respect for working class people