5 Questions with Taran Glasson
Taran comes from a low-income, single-parent household, and went on to study Geography at the University of Cambridge. After graduating, he worked at Amazon, did an MBA and a postgraduate law degree via scholarships, co-founded a start-up, mentored for The Prince’s Trust, and volunteered for social justice and parliamentary groups.
Taran became a Project Access mentor in August 2022, before joining the Programs team in February 2023. In November 2023, he became the Global Director of Mentorship Programmes and Campus Operations, leading Project Access’ mentorship programs and mentor recruitment efforts at 31 top global universities. He’s now our Chief Mentorship Officer, owning all things mentorship-related at Project Access.
Taran is also the COO of an ed-tech start-up, helping young people navigate university admissions and the world of work, a freelance researcher, and volunteers for cancer research and climate change organisations.
Hobbies and interests include reading (current obsessions are physics, philosophy, and the mind), singing, playing the piano (not very well), tennis (even worse), yoga, and learning to program.
1. How did you get into your current role at Project Access?
A little bit of chance, and a little bit of tragedy, but, thankfully, a whole lot of fun since 🙂
My Project Access story started in July 2022, when I applied to be a mentor. I loved the mission, so, after my mentor training, I enquired about volunteering as a team member. A few months and a couple of interviews later, in November 2022, I joined the Talent team.
From mentor to team member in four months: simple, right? Not quite.
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that, according to my introduction, I never joined the Talent team. I joined the Programs team, in February 2023. To explain, I need to rewind to July 2022. The evening after I got the message to say I’d become a Project Access mentor, I told my dad on the phone. At the time, he was teaching in Pakistan. Having been a teacher in the UK state sector for 30 years before that, he shared my enthusiasm for democratising access to education and was happy with the news.
At least I think he was. I don’t remember his exact reaction, because of what he said next.
After he told me he had cancer, I went for a walk and journaled on a park bench. I have the entry in front of me as I write this. Part of it was a pledge to make the most of life by living out my values. These same values led me to join the PA Talent team shortly after.
For a while, life drifted on. However, two weeks after starting my role, I had another memorable phone call. This time, it was my dad’s school in Pakistan. Despite my dad insisting he was fine, they told me he wasn’t. He was deteriorating, and something needed to be done.
Three days later, I was on a plane to Karachi. My brother followed shortly after. After 12 days, many meetings and email threads involving Pakistani High Commissioners, UK MPs, and the NHS, and the incredible support of those around us, we flew him home.
Just in time to see his family and friends one last time.
Me on the day of my Cambridge graduation with my dad
While that happened, and for a few months after, I took time out from everything, spent it with my family, and tried to make sure I’d processed what had happened. This meant I stepped away from Project Access having barely started, with no guarantee of when or if I’d return.
My manager at the time, Janna (former Global Director of Talent), was very understanding, and when I was ready to come back, it coincided with the start of PA’s Cambridge Offer Holders’ Programme. They needed someone to run it. Having studied at Cambridge, I ended up being that person. Accidentally, my life in the Programs team was born.
It’s not a conventional path to joining any team, but it gave me a degree of boldness and motivation I didn’t have before. I don’t mean to sound dismissive, but there’s unlikely to be a problem I face at work, at Project Access or elsewhere, that’s anywhere near as emotionally or logistically difficult. At least I hope not.
It’s a lot easier to make big organisational decisions with that perspective. And it’s certainly a lot easier to dedicate time to making others’ lives better when you’ve seen how precious it is.
“I’m glad to report that I’ve loved it here ever since, and am proud of what we’ve achieved so far. My dad would’ve been too.”
2. What is your favourite part of PA?
The people! It takes a unique set of values to want to work for hours on end with a bunch of people you’ve probably never met in real life. I’ve found it’s a set of values that resonates with me, which is why I’m grateful for every single day I spend helping our team members, mentors, and mentees. Here’s me and the team at our Cambridge Mentor Recruitment Event (Jan 2024, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge)!
3. What’s your favourite beverage?
I live on a diet of tap water and black coffee. It is what it is.
I do at least try to drink it in nice mugs, though (anyone who’s ever had a call with me will probably know this).
4. Best study tip?
Wearing ear plugs, or noise cancelling earphones with noise cancelling turned ‘ON’ but no music playing (the latter also works really well when you’re trying to read on the London Underground and the train’s screaming along the tracks).
It took me until the final year of my Bachelor’s degree to realize that I was extremely sensitive to noise, and earplugs were a game changer. I went from fidgeting every five minutes to being able to lock in and deeply focus on my work.
Check your school or university’s exam guidelines, but my university allowed us to wear earplugs in exams, too. Apart from one overzealous examiner enquiring about the fluorescent yellow and pink things in my ears during my last ever uni exam, they worked well.
Me with my family on my graduation day (June 2018, Robinson College, University of Cambridge)
5. As the Chief Mentorship Officer, can you tell us why students should join PA as mentors?
“Because Project Access is unique. Not only do you get to help students get into their dream universities, but you also get the opportunity to shape our vision.”
We’re led entirely by volunteers, most of whom are current students, and most of whom have been PA mentors. You can end up running the mentorship programs you mentored on! Just last week, I interviewed two current mentors for team member roles (successfully - they were great!) and they mentioned how their positive experiences as mentors inspired them to join our team. And because we’re almost entirely student-led, even if you don’t want to join our team you’d join a thriving community of like-minded people with frequent opportunities to meet up.
Why not join an organisation run by students like you, for students like you? 🙂
Me and my former mentee