I used to cringe when I attended lectures on the importance of networking. The word evoked images of corporate functions and fancy receptions where you saunter up to the most powerful, well-connected people and ask for their business cards. With my aversion to small talk and tendency to mistrust authority, this idea of networking made me want to crawl into a hole and hide in my liberal arts paradise. I unfairly reduced networking to a mechanism that only helps those who want to climb the social ladder.

Then, I decided to apply for the Watson, a fellowship that funds recent graduates for a year of travel, study, and exploration in several foreign countries. As the application deadline drew closer, I fought a growing sense of panic as all these doubts welled up. How will I decide which countries to live in? Will people talk to me? How will I survive in these places that I’ve never visited?

I had an idea that I loved, but I was at a loss in terms of making it happen. As I thought about all the places I wanted to visit, I realized that many of my friends at Scripps and other colleges have traveled, studied, or lived in remarkable places. My friends are my pillars of support; they are also incredible resources. I started writing emails and reaching out to the people closest to me, and I found that they shared my enthusiasm. My best friend, who majors in Arabic and hopes to study in Egypt next year, squealed her excitement into the phone. “I could translate for you,” she said. Just from reaching out to my peers, I got replies from people with connections in Japan, South Korea, Egypt…All of a sudden, I had an overwhelming number of choices. A friend offered her family home in Egypt as a potential place to stay.

Next, I started talking to professors about my idea. I realized that professors I admire are already doing work that I aspire to accomplish someday. Many of them also have connections to international NGOs working on women’s rights and community empowerment. My professors directed me to several organizations that were in line with my goals and connected me with other faculty with similar research interests.

I began to realize that networking wasn’t a shallow activity. Rather, it is something you engage in daily that can take place when you’re sitting down in the cafeteria or staying five minutes after class to talk to a professor. Your network exists already. At Scripps, we are lucky to be surrounded by accomplished, passionate, and extraordinary people. Networking is about reaching out to those who you most admire, so that you may support and help each other to grow.