The Network Core Club hosted its inaugural meeting on Oct. 2, providing a space for students to make community connections, utilize resources like LinkedIn, build confidence, and become experts on success.

Led by Sabrina Dukhon ’28, this new club serves as a professional development organization for students, by students. The Network Core Club gives students ways to apply for scholarships, jobs, and internships with provided tools, such as learning how to send cold emails, creating resumes, attending Zoom calls, and using Arcadia’s Handshake platform. Dukhon aims to help students find their best fit in the real world and learn to become leaders in their communities.

“I love helping students learn about their passions and opportunities,” Dukhon explained. “Right now, the problem is that there are so many opportunities, and it’s hard to navigate through them and find the right ones, which is so overwhelming. I think it’s good to have a student-led club where I understand what they’re going through, and I want to help as many students as possible become experts on success and gain as many opportunities as they can.” 

At the meeting, Dukhon presented various ways students will learn to make connections, network, build career confidence, and grow as individuals. Members will learn how to create and use a LinkedIn account for job searches and research. They will also be given goals to complete, ultimately leading to using LinkedIn profiles and learned networking tactics to find “A-Connections,” which are individuals students can reach out to for mentorship and guidance. 

“Students will have a safe space to learn about being successful through the lens of a student in the same boat as them,” Dukhon said. “There’s no judgment here about what level you’re on, what you know or don’t know, or what you want to know. Everybody here is on their own journey, and we’re all here to learn.

“Networking is something that you do whether you realize it or not. You can be the most introverted person ever, and still be networking and not realizing it,” she continued. “Networking is what gets you opportunities, because if you don’t try, then you won’t get any at all. It’s better to try 100 percent than zero percent.” 

Dukhon designed this club to share with other Arcadia students the expertise she gained through her own experiences.

“After high school, I won a program scholarship to do LinkedIn classes for the whole summer, where I learned how to network and found a mentor,” she said. “After that, I realized that I really want to help other students learn the same thing.”

Dukhon’s plans for future meetings include workshops, a guest speaker to come in and help with LinkedIn accounts, volunteering, and holding events with younger students to help them learn about self-worth, career confidence, creativity, and various other opportunities and resources. 

“The goal of the Network Core Club is to help students not only feel less stressed about their future and their present, but also to be able to learn skills that they can use throughout their daily lives,” Dukhon said. “I want to help as many students as possible become experts on success and gain as many opportunities as they can.” 

The Network Core Club meets once or twice a month on Wednesdays and Thursdays. To get involved with the club, sign up using this form. Please reach out to Dukhon at sdukhon@arcadia.edu or email networkingcoreclub@arcadia.edu with any questions. Students can also follow the club’s Instagram, @networkcoreclub, which will feature internship and scholarship opportunities, or join Network Core Club on GroupMe.

To be eligible to join the Network Core Club, students must have at least a 2.5 GPA. Dukhon is also looking to fill four officer positions: Vice President, Treasurer, Event Coordinator, and Marketing Coordinator. Students must be in at least their second semester on campus to become an officer. Those who are interested in these positions should reach out.