Every scientist knows that sometimes experiments go wrong. Sometimes we spend time, energy, and money and receive no results. Such was the case for my first round of thesis data collection. I’m a physics major doing an observational astronomy research thesis. And like many of the sciences, the successful acquisition of data depends on many parameters within my control: preparation of supplies and equipment, preliminary calculations and observation, plenty of background research, and of course, copious amounts of planning.

But also like many of the sciences, astronomy depends on a couple of parameters completely beyond any hope of control. Most notoriously: the weather. To both mine and my professor’s credit, we did our best to plan around the worst of the season’s heavenly offerings, but there is always that 10% chance of precipitation.

The long and short of it found me six hours removed from Claremont, up a mountain miles from civilization and potable water, prepared to deal with any and every technical and scientific problem the observatory could throw at me, and with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs and press the “update” button the live weather conditions on the computer every other minute.

Yeah.

So, no data from Oliver Observing Station. Time for Plan B: think of anyone and everyone I might know who has access to a telescope larger than half a meter and an interest in my thesis topic. It is times like these that I remember why the 5Cs are so fantastic: the classes, professors, and resources of five undergraduate institutions… and all the networking opportunities that come with them.

By chance I had run into my old chemistry teacher last semester who had inquired as to my academic pursuits. She had suggested meeting some of her friends, who were astronomy professors at Pomona. And as luck would have it, I had signed up to take an astronomy class with one of those professors, who had remote access to at telescope with equipment that could be adapted to gather the data I needed.

Now I am no expert at networking; I am not an outgoing person. But I must admit that networking has been the single most powerful tool I have ever used to find and gain access to the many opportunities available in the world. Recently I was having an informal conversation with my advisor when I happened to mention switching interests from astronomy to science writing. He informed me of a project he had just started, writing a physics textbook. He said he would be very interested in my help, because of my dual interest in science and communication. The chance to help write a physics text book is the kind of opportunity I would never have had access to if I had not known the people involved with the project.

In the end, networking can start subtly: building up simple friendships with people, even a teacher from freshman year who isn’t even in my department, ultimately gave me a second shot at an amazing thesis. Networking has not only allowed me to find new people and opportunities, but has proved a valuable resource for creating a Plan B when things go wrong. Even if the people I know don’t have a solution, they may know someone who does. For me, starting a conversation with a stranger feels like the single hardest thing to do, but it yields the greatest results.