Life Skills Hosts 12th Annual Networking Night

 
On Monday, September 21, Nebraska Athletics Life Skills held their 12th annual Networking Night, and first ever virtual version of the event. Although being virtual brings many limitations and barriers, the event was still a great success for the student-athletes involved. This event welcomed all second-year student-athletes, in which 111 were present, along with 3 professional guests that led the event's focus of all tips and trades of networking.
 
The event was kick-started by Jordan Gonzales of the UNL Alumni Association, who shared his "ABC's" approach to networking. During his speech, Jordan shared valuable tips on how to create a strategy, maintain a conversation, and how to leave a lasting impact. Sophomore Men's Gymnastics athlete Sam Phillips, found Jordan's advice particularly helpful: "I thought Jordan's points were very informative. Specifically, how it comes down to the little things of sharing interests or complimenting someone when trying to create a meaningful conversation and lasting relationship. It is all about quality versus quantity, before last night I would just like to go after everyone, but now I understand that it might not be the best approach for creating the opportunity to dig deep with a person and connect."
 
Jordan's presentation was followed up by Charlie Foster, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Student Excellence and Director of the Office of Academic Success and Intercultural Services. During her speech, Charlie shared different ways on how to be creative and comfortable when it comes to networking in diverse settings. Sophomore Women's Golf athlete Leah Herzog, shared some thoughts on how this resonated with her as a student-athlete: "I really liked when Charlie shared how she always uses coffee to connect with people because that's something that she loves and is easy to create conversation with. As athletes we don't realize how great an advantage we have in networking due to having the connection of sport that many people can resonate with."
 
To wrap up the evening, the final professional who shared was Jeremiah Sirles, a Husker Football alum (2009-2013) and NFL veteran. As someone who could directly relate to the experience and journey of being a student-athlete at Nebraska, Sirles was able to share valuable advice on how they can maximize their networking connections through their sport. Sirles emphasized the idea that just because you are only a sophomore, you do not have to wait to start networking with professionals. The easiest way to begin this can be dialing in on what your career interests and aspirations are, then utilizing your Nebraska Athletics network to find professionals that you could potentially do an informational interview with.
 
For student-athletes like Sophomore Jake Herbek of Husker Football, the night proved to be a success even without the ability to be in person. Herbek shared his thoughts on the overall experience: "Being an introvert, starting conversations with people I don't know tends to be difficult. All of the speakers' pointers on how to start and continue conversations were definitely the best part for me and my future."
 
A big thank you to all of the professional guests who helped make this event possible.

For questions about Networking Night, please reach out to Assistant Director of Life Skills, Tom Lemke.