Students attend SUSA's semi-annual networking night

The Smith Undergraduate Student Association held its semi-annual Alumni Networking Night, attracting more students and alumni than previous years.                     

"We wanted to give the students an opportunity to connect with alums," said Pratik Dixit, president of SUSA and a junior finance and information systems major. The purpose of the event was for students to meet recent Smith alumni in a more casual, laid back setting, rather than most of the awkward, forced networking events, Dixit said. The events organizers set up poker tables, food platters, and other board games to help maintain a casual feel.

Alumni from companies such as Exxon, Lockheed Martin, BB&T, and other local companies came out, many for the first time, to get to know current students, share advice, and exchange contact information.

"I'd like to think I've learned something in the time I've been out," said Greg Brouillette, '07 alum and Vice President of Business Banking at M&T Bank in Columbia, Md.He said events like these also help companies stay informed about what's valuable to students so representatives know what to look for when recruiting.

Alex Kin ('08), of Red Hook Lobster Pound, was the first representative from his company to come out to this event. He said wanted to meet students and share some of the pitfalls that his fellow grads had experienced, in an effort to keep current students from making the same mistakes.

Alumni Networking Nights have produced successes relationships between students and employers in the past. Vice President of Finance, Julia Klein, stayed in contact with an alum she met in the fall semester's networking night, from which she was later offered an internship. Other students, she said, have gotten similar opportunities out of these events.

"It's really good for freshman and sophomores," said Abi Shitta-Bey, sophomore marketing and supply chain management major, because they can start making connections earlier in school, rather than waiting until they're applying for internships and jobs.