About
Established in 2020, Connect is one of Tech's newest First-Year Leadership Organizations that focuses on building connections and creating community among the First-year Connect participants (Connectors) as well as the entire First-year class. We understand that transitioning to college and to a new community can be difficult, so we hope by being a member of Connect, we can help make Georgia Tech feel like home, build long-lasting friendships, and provide members with the tools and resources to become a successful leader on Georgia Tech's campus.
As a First-Year Connector you can expect:
- Weekly meetings
- Fall and spring semester retreats
- Group bonding in both small and large group settings to create our close-knit community
- Event planning for Connect participants and the First-Year Class
- Individual and group leadership development
Apply for a FLO!
Connect is one of Georgia Tech's nine FLOs that first-year students can apply and participate in.
A FLO is an organization with strong GT departmental connections that seeks to better the Georgia Tech community through a unique program that enriches the first-year experience for its members and the entire first-year class.
FLOs are excellent opportunities for new students to become engaged in leadership opportunities in their first year.
Meet the Connect Advisors!
Our student advisors serve as the leadership team in charge of the planning and implementation of Connect programs, as well as serving as mentors to all the first-year Connectors. Our advisor team is made up of 4 second-year advisors and 2 upper-class advisors to provide Connect with a variety of Tech experience.
Ajay Mathur
Executive Advisor
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Smyrna, GA
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Try a Kaldi’s cinnamon roll.
Fun fact: I found a house for an all-pro NFL player.
Sophie Mayhew
Executive Advisor
Major: Industrial Engineering
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Birmingham AL
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Georgia Tech has a lot to offer you— take advantage of it! Join new clubs, go to free tutoring, register for career seminars, and find all the free T-shirt’s you can! These opportunities are once in a lifetime, so use them!
Fun fact: I've been to Disney World 15 times.
Alesia Paliwoda
Second-Year Advisor
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Chatham, NJ
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Enjoy every bit of your first year! It might take some time to adjust and that's ok! Explore campus, attend events, make friends, enjoy the outdoors, and most importantly, have fun!
Fun fact: I live on the Georgia Tech golf course. 😊
Journee Johnson
Second-Year Advisor
Major: Business
Year: 2nd
Hometown: McDonough, GA
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Step out of your comfort zone. You’ll meet the most amazing people and experience so many new and exciting things by just trying something new!
Fun fact: I am deathly afraid or butterflies due to being completely swarmed by a flock of butterflies at a conservatory at the ripe age of 7!
John Wilson
Second-Year Advisor
Major: Materials Science Engineering
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Hoover, AL
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Ask people to do things with you and say yes as much as possible.
Fun fact: Papa John himself gave me a $10 Papa John's gift card.
Tyler Reagan
Second-Year Advisor
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Palm Bay, FL
One Piece of Advice for First-Year Students: Get involved in at least one club (Whether it be connected or not). It can really help broaden your connections with people and it could help you discover personal interests you didn’t know you had before. Even if it is a club, you have only some interests in, it is better to be in something rather than nothing, especially in your first year of college.
Fun fact: I am one of three people in the world with a disease that produces cysts within my bones.