In high school, many students are pondering the questions, ‘What do I want to be when I grow up? How do I get there?’ The Networking Night Committee is a club created to address questions like these.
The Networking Night Committee was founded by alumna Lauren Fisch ‘25 in her junior year. To provide students with connections to professionals in different fields, the committee invites a mix of qualified parent, teacher and alumni volunteers to share their expertise. This 2025-2026 school year, the Networking Night Committee has hosted a Medical Networking Night and is currently planning a Legal Networking Night for Wednesday, April 29th. The committee helps students reach their dream careers in the future by improving their networking skills and providing meaningful connections.
The club adviser and mentor, Kate Kennedy, is also the head of career counseling. Kennedy said an important aspect of planning events is finding ways to attract students to attend.
“I think all students could benefit from it, even if it’s something you’re not interested in, because it’s a chance to practice conversing with people in fields that you want to learn more about to gauge your curiosity,” Kennedy said. “You need to know how to network to get a job nowadays without [only relying on] who you know.”
Seniors Callie Wu, Addy Jalan and Ally Silbert are the co-chairs of the Networking Night Committee. Wu said she thinks students gain experience talking to people and engaging with professionals at Networking Nights.
“A lot of times you’re just in school and you’re studying academically. You don’t really know how to talk to the professionals and ask them questions about their career,” Wu said. “I think networking is definitely one of the most important things that you need to know how to do in life in order to get jobs.”
Wu said when she first joined the Networking Night club, she was nervous because she had no prior networking experience. She said she hopes every student who attends a Networking Night is not afraid to ask questions and leaves with confidence.
“I’ve definitely gained more confidence in public speaking by walking up to strangers and asking them what they do,” Wu said. “I know one of the professionals I talked to went to one of the schools that I applied to, and I asked her, ‘How did you like the school? How is the food? How are the classes?’”
Jalan said joining the club and being undecided on her major strengthened her view on the importance of networking. She said talking to adults and learning how they chose their path has been helpful for her.
“I know that it’s more important now because, looking around, there are so many high schoolers who are so undecided, who don’t know what they want to do in the future, who don’t know what they want to hone in on,” Jalan said.
Kennedy said networking for high school students can be especially difficult due to the increase in online communication. She said successful communication with professionals involves being a little vulnerable, asking the hard questions and being open to a conversation.
“I think young people are so comfortable texting and being on a screen to communicate,” Kennedy said. “I think sometimes that can feel easier, but then doing it in-person opens [people] up a lot and is harder. So being uncomfortable can be a good thing.”
