Networking is usually not my thing...

...but I really need to get on that. My internship has these managment meet-and-greet things where people high up in the company make a little presentation to us on what they do, how they got there, etc. They're usually pretty interesting, but today, the woman speaking became my hero in the first five minutes of her presentation. First of all, she's black, and I've seen about 5 black people in the entire company, and most of them are in the warehouse or those "grunt work" positions where you don't really see them that much. But this woman was the vice president of financial services for the ENTIRE company (let's call it BBS). Secondly, she was genuinely excited about working at BBS. She'd "never been bored one day" even though she's been there for 20 years!! Anyway, her entire presentation was inspirational, one of those that make you feel like you could conquer the world. I want to be her when I grow up! So me being my quiet and shy self said not a word to her after the meeting. In my head, I said I wasn't awake enough yet to say anything, but really, even if I had been awake, I had no idea what to say. I mean, people tell you all the time that networking is key, but I never got the logistics of it. So you meet somebody and find something to talk about, which is a ridiculous battle for me, cause I don't do small talk very well. Then you need to find a reason to keep in contact with them and get them to give you their card. You send a thank you, and then what? Do you send emails every now and then like "hi, just wanted to remind you that I exist. Please give me a job if you have one"? I have trouble keeping up with friends, let alone people that I don't even know.

So I'd scheduled a meeting to talk to the recruiter, and he told me in a nutshell that I need to get out of my shell and be more aggressive (is it sad that I only remember how to spell this word because of cheerleaders from high school? B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E!!- but I digress). I have a lot going for me since I worked in the profit and non-profit sector, I'm black, female, and an Ivy League undergrad (yes Ivy League was the last thing he said. What does THAT tell you?) I came away with a lot that I need to change, like my approach to approaching people. I like to sit back and observe, see how everyone interacts with each other and from there see where I can fit in and who I might be able to trust. But you rarely have that much time to analyze everything, so there will be a time where you will be vulnerable to mishaps. Being quiet got me places in elementary school, and I spoke up enough during high school, but I'm about to be a senior in college. That baby stuff should've been long gone. Not saying that I'm gonna become a completely different person, but I have to change something. Bring out my professional Sasha Fierce lol. But I promise you by 9 AM tomorrow, I will have contacted that woman, cause I gotta get on this...