Upper School business and entrepreneurship students recently participated in a professional networking workshop, testing their interpersonal communication alongside visiting industry leaders. Rather than focusing solely on elevator pitches or trading contact information, the event emphasized the foundational habits of long-term professional relationship-building: active listening, thoughtful inquiry, and genuine human engagement.

Guest professionals joined students for small-group conversations, sharing practical insights from their respective fields and discussing how professional networks develop over a lifetime through curiosity and trust.

Offered through the Academy’s Institute for Cultural Engagement (TICE), the gathering provided students a structured environment to translate classroom concepts into real-world practice. TICE faculty designed the session around refining high-value human skills, encouraging students to view professional engagement not as a transactional routine, but as an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others. As students prepare for future academic pursuits and vocations, opportunities like these reinforce that meaningful professional relationships begin with authenticity, humility, and a posture of curiosity.