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Career-focused networking event reflects decade of institutional growth and student opportunity

What began as a simple networking reception has grown into one of С����Ƶ’s signature career development events.

Now in its 10th year, Mocktails & Mingling brought more than 40 alumni back to the Springs Student Center this week to connect with students exploring their next steps — and to demonstrate how relationships formed at PC can shape careers in unexpected ways.

For Kim Lane, associate dean and director of career and professional development, the evening represents more than an annual gathering.

“Networking is more than exchanging business cards and connecting on LinkedIn,” Lane told attendees. “It’s about building relationships. It’s about asking thoughtful questions and exploring possibilities.”

Lane, who has led the event for a decade alongside associate director Lynn Downie, said students often misunderstand networking as transactional rather than transformational.

“When I was 18 or 19, my father told me I needed to network,” Lane said. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m an introvert. I don’t want to talk to anyone.’ But I eventually realized what he meant. No matter your career path, relationships matter.”

This year’s milestone event included a new element: a panel discussion featuring three alumni representing marketing, manufacturing and law, each offering candid reflections on how networking shaped their own journeys.

Before the panel began, Dr. Erin McAdams, provost and vice president for academic affairs, emphasized the broader institutional significance of the evening.

“When I first arrived at С����Ƶ, career and professional development operated somewhat separately from academic affairs,” McAdams said. “One of the most meaningful shifts we’ve made is fully embracing career and professional development as an academic initiative.”

That integration, she said, reinforces classroom learning and experiential opportunities.

“Events like this matter,” McAdams said.

She shared her own story of attending an alumni networking event as a college student — a conversation that influenced her decision to pursue a Ph.D., become a faculty member and eventually enter higher education leadership.

“For the students here tonight, keep your ears open,” McAdams said. “You have no idea how a single conversation might expand your understanding of what is possible.”

Alumni reflect on authentic networking

The alumni panel illustrated those possibilities in real time.

Michele Griggs ’10, vice president and creative director at in Greenville, told students her career path did not follow a straight line from her academic major.

“I never took a marketing class in my life,” Griggs said. “Thank you, liberal arts education.”

A double major in art and English with a minor in art history, Griggs said she once believed networking did not apply to her chosen fields.

“I didn’t know what networking was when I was a student,” she said. “I thought, ‘What do I need networking for?’ Oh my gosh, how wrong was I?”

Through campus employment and connections fostered by Career and Professional Development, Griggs built relationships that helped her secure her first job and advance into leadership.

Today, she says she genuinely enjoys her work.

“I am one of the rare people who will look you in the eye and tell you I love my job,” she said. “I work for the best company with the best people.”

Blake West ’20 offered a more recent perspective. A biochemistry major who graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic, West said networking looked very different in a virtual world.

“Networking is not a personality trait,” West said. “It’s a skill you have to learn.”

Now an account manager in polymer solutions group, West began his career in research and development before moving to the commercial side of the company.

“My job basically is networking,” he said. “It’s about building relationships and understanding what customers need.”

West encouraged students to remain curious and open to opportunities that may not align perfectly with their initial plans.

“I never thought of myself being in sales,” he said. “But building relationships opened that door.”

Joe Wideman ’13 — a former Blue Hose football player, current member of the College’s Board of Trustees and partner at in Columbia — admitted he once resisted networking altogether.

“I was terrible at networking,” Wideman said.

As a law student, he reluctantly attended a dinner with an alumnus whose son was considering PC. Months later, when he walked into a job interview, he found that same attorney sitting across the table.

“That’s when I realized networking could be beneficial,” Wideman said.

Now approaching a decade in practice and serving as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law, Wideman said honesty remains his guiding principle.

“Even if you don’t know what you’re talking about, sometimes honesty can get you in the door,” he said.

A shared message: Be authentic

Despite their varied industries and graduation years, all three alumni offered similar advice.

“Be yourself,” West said. “People can tell when you’re faking.”

“Be authentic,” Griggs added. “People can see right through it.”

Wideman agreed, noting that authenticity builds trust — a currency as valuable as any résumé line.

Lane said that message aligns precisely with the purpose of Mocktails & Mingling.

“This is a comfortable, supportive environment,” she told students. “Practice introducing yourself with confidence and authenticity.”

More than 40 alumni attended the event, representing diverse industries and career paths. Many once sat in the same chairs as the students they met this week.

“Every conversation can offer clarity about your own journey,” Lane said. “And that journey doesn’t end at graduation.”

As the structured portion of the evening concluded, students rotated tables, continuing conversations that may one day shape internships, job offers — or even entirely new career trajectories.

For McAdams, the event’s 10-year milestone reflects not just longevity but cultural change.

Career development at С����Ƶ is no longer an auxiliary service, she said. It is woven into the academic experience — reinforced by faculty, administrators, alumni and trustees alike.

For students in the room, the takeaway was simple but profound.

“You have no idea,” McAdams said, “how a single conversation might expand your understanding of what is possible.”

Ten years in, Mocktails & Mingling continues to prove that those conversations matter.