by Jeffry Franco and Nick Santo, Manhattan varsity sophomores
Our recent FIRST Men’s Professional Dinner was a great opportunity for our men’s varsity team to learn about different careers and pursuing their passions. But don’t just take our word for it, varsity team members Nick and Jeffry share their what they learned!
Jeffry, how can varsity boys take what they learned into the next phase of their lives?
Row New York held a successful dinner that not only helped contribute to a new learning experience, but it also helped us practice for the future. As progressing student athletes, we have to learn to take steps outside of our comfort zone and move forward to the bigger obstacle, college. With the help given to us by the RNY faculty and the guests that came that night we learned how to improve our networking skills and how we should follow our dreams. These skills can help us in the next phase of our lives, since we learned how networking skills are important to have because without it we won’t be able to build bonds with future clients or future bosses. Networking skills can play a key role in getting yourself known, if people know who you are they can tell others about you and you can create opportunities for yourself. This is why what we learned is important for our future.
Nick, what were one or two important lessons you learned at the event?
On the illustrious Tuesday night of March 31st, my club, Row New York gave me the fortunate opportunity to attend a professional men’s dinner with my fellow teammates, in order to receive résumé building advice as well as various tips and hacks to our budding lives as adolescents in the world. Of these new lessons, one great thing we indulged in was a lesson in networking. Various questions arose, as how to make certain connections and when to do them. Well, we learned that no one necessarily intends on networking. Usually, it happens unintentionally, in little conversations, through mutual friends and common interests, and these new bonds bring mutual dependencies and trusts, where both parties can now be able to offer the other something beneficial and can expand one’s knowledge of the other’s field.
Another lesson learned at the professional men’s dinner was to always follow your gut. Many of the speakers, like host, John Denham, and speaker, Michael Bright told of their past trials and errors in previous fields. Denham told of his engineering degree, and how it had assisted him in his rise to CEO of Denham Wolf. Bright told of his pursuit to play professional basketball, and his success in doing so. But, he told of his disliking of the profession and his reformation, in running the Newark YMCA. His love for teaching helped him in bringing smiles to the children of Newark, with the after-school programs and summer camps. Their determination and strive to their goals had showed me to stick through the tough times and never give up your dreams. The Professional Men’s dinner was a great benefit to both my teammates and myself.
