College Relationships That Should Last
I went to two different universities and spent about 7 years rubbing shoulders with fellow students. We all had different majors and interests, and some of us were marked to be successful while others, well, you know what I mean. We saw each other so often that there was no concern about losing touch.
Fast forward a few years later and I am embarrassed to say that if I needed to, I can only reach out to a few of those contacts.
Even with alumni communities and Google, I've found it is quite hard to find current contact information. And if you told me this would happen when I was in school I probably wouldn't have cared much. Or I wouldn't have believed you.
But now, as a working professional, I care a lot.
You see, I'm sure most of my friends from school (and even acquaintances that I never got to know very well) are in positions that would add value to my career. Perhaps they could be my vendors, or my clients. Perhaps they could be service providers or advisors. Perhaps they have really rich networks that would add a ton of value to what I'm doing now.
Perhaps? The answer to all of these perhapses is ABSOLUTELY.
People you meet in school will be in a position to be vendors or clients.
People you meet in school will be in a position to be service providers or advisors.
People you meet in school will have rich, diverse networks that may someday add value to your career.
Imagine keeping in touch with 50 people that you met in school. Five years down the road they will all have their own networks. Students now are the desicion makers tomorrow, aren't they? So who are the people that you really should keep track of, and how should you do it?
The who is easy: Everyone.
The how is a little more complicated: In a way that will last throughout the years.
I'll expand on this in future posts. For now, sit down and list 50 people off the top of your head. Start with professors, then move to students... and on and on.
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