2031: Ashley, Brad, Caitlin and Justin walk into a restaurant.  Picture Rt. 1 and your theme restaurant of choice.  Let’s listen in…

ASHLEY: “Hey, Justin, I still can’t believe you got lost in the parking lot on our way to LBI.”

JUSTIN: “Yeah, well, let’s discuss how your inability to cook popcorn ended up with three fire trucks coming to campus.”

BRAD: “I think Ashley did that just to meet the firemen.”

ASHLEY: “Shut up, Brad.”   BRAD: “Yes, Dear.”

CAITLIN: “Yeah, I can’t believe that you guys got married.  At least for a couple of years…”

ASHLEY: “Yeah, well…somehow our business kept going, even after the divorce.”

JUSTIN: “Caitlin, thanks for helping me out when I was looking for a new job last year.  I have to give her props.  We hadn’t spoken for 10 years.  I had been out of a job for over a year and I saw her name on Linkedin.  HR for a big company in my area of expertise.  Well, my major, anyway.  Call her up.  Boom.  45 minute conversation.  3 interviews later.  A contributing member of society again.”

BRAD: “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

ASHLEY: “Well, thank YOU, Justin, for introducing us to your friend who does web design.  Probably saved us a couple of thousand bucks and our new site looks fantastic!”

JUSTIN: “No problem.  I worked part-time for him while I was looking for a permanent job.  I used to take classes with him at HU.”

BRAD: “We have an intern from HU.  Working out really well.  And her Dad is a VP for a company we’ve been trying to get into for years.  So, maybe…”

CAITLIN: “I have a new hire from HU.  She’s great.  Actually took a class with Prof. Jones.”

BRAD: “He’s still there?  He must be, like, Mr. Szarek’s age…”

ASHLEY: Hey, I wonder what happened to Mr. Szarek?

JUSTIN: My bet is that he’s writing a blog about us.

MR. SZAREK: College.  It provides friends, partners and business connections for a lifetime.  It spans the globe.  Some of your fellow alumni will be with you for your entire life, others will pass through, some you will never meet but will help you strictly because of your common bond.  It provides direct access to other networking organizations, such as fraternal organizations – both social and professional.

The networking benefits of higher education are – curiously – maybe the only regard in which higher education is under-promoted and undervalued, but remember this – College is the greatest networking group you can join.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions.  Please feel free to email me at info@cc4therestofus.com, call or text me at 908-403-3819, join me on Facebook on “College Counseling for the Rest of Us” and join me on Twitter at @MichaelCCR.   And now on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/CCRMichael?feature=mhee.