“At Amherst, you’re there with a bunch of peers, at Sophomore Summit, and you’re all trying to help each other out. You’re talking, you’re having fun, you’re trying to progress forward in your careers together.”
– Alex Kupersmith (class of 2026)
“Everyone’s in the same spot, all looking for a job, all wanting to grow and learn more, so knowing that you’re not alone in this process, I think that is super beneficial.”
– Dylan Briggs (class of 2026)
On August 14, I, like all Sophomores, opened my phone to an email from the Career Columns division of the Loeb Center that, upon opening, read in big, bold letters: “SAVE THE DATE! Sophomore Summit 2026.” I’d heard of Sophomore Summit from upperclassmen, and had a general idea of what it entailed, but as I opened my Google calendar to add the dates, I was struck with a thought that stuck with me for months: How do I get the most out of the Sophomore Summit?
I wasn’t sure where to start when it came to networking, making connections, and best practices. My questions, and the drive behind them, accumulated into a need for guidance that inspired this blog idea. I reached out to two senior Peer Career Advisors (PCAs) from the Loeb Center, Alex Kupersmith and Dylan Briggs, who both attended the Sophomore Summit in its inaugural year as sophomores and returned as peer leaders at the event when they were juniors. With double the experience, they were able to provide invaluable advice and insight into my questions.
This post aims to share their best advice for any sophomore who, like me, wants to know how to make the most of Sophomore Summit this year. Or for any first-year preparing to sign up next year.
What Success Looks Like:
Success at Sophomore Summit will look different for everyone. Each student brings their own career goals and ideas into the event, and their sense of accomplishment is not quantifiable or universalizable. It looks different for everyone. Yet simultaneously, many sophomores encounter similar fears, struggles, and challenges surrounding Sophomore Summit, and this section provides advice that can help all students successfully tackle the event. For instance, Alex points out that attention spans have posed a challenge for sophomores in the past and offers some advice on how to help address this issue.
Alex: “One thing I see people have a problem with is, if you know information, and you’re getting taught it again, you kind of zone out a little bit, and in a sense you [think] ‘I’ve done this before,’ and maybe some people haven’t done that, and you think ‘I don’t really need to be here, I don’t need to pay attention.’ But at certain points you’re going to [think] ‘wow, I didn’t know that,’ and it’s really just [about] staying engaged the whole time. That’s one side, and then the other side is that some people may feel very overwhelmed, [with] all the information they’re taking in. And I think that’s definitely true because you may be sitting down for two hours listening to someone speak, you’re not going to collect everything. So, trying to jot some notes down, overarching themes would be very helpful in that scenario.”
Another common shared hurdle for sophomores is nerves and anxiety. Sophomore Summit can seem like a daunting concept, but one of the most important things for a sophomore to bring back to campus in January, according to Dylan? Confidence.
Dylan: “I think some sophomores that I’ve been most impressed with, either when I’ve been a leader or when I was doing it myself were sophomores that portrayed a lot of confidence, I think most people don’t know what they want to do, but I think if you have confidence within yourself, even not knowing what you want to do, it goes a long way.”
Truly, achieving success in Sophomore Summit can be as simple as learning to bring confidence and attentiveness to your actions, whether that be in networking, engaging with peers, or simply taking notes.
Advice for Students with Varied Interests:
Although some sophomores enter into Sophomore Summit knowing what they want to major in, their dream career, and what their future holds, for many others, sophomore year is a time of exploration. At Amherst, the deadline to declare a major is the spring of our sophomore year, meaning we have more time and freedom to take stock of our interests, and Sophomore Summit is a perfect opportunity to do just that! If you aren’t sure what field you want to go into yet, this section is advice for you. And don’t worry, you’re not alone.
I asked Dylan and Alex for the advice they would give to a student who isn’t sure what career path they want to take yet. As a student taking classes in three different majors, I aim to determine the most effective way to utilize Sophomore Summit without a specific career goal in mind. Both Dylan’s and Alex’s responses were centered on the exploration of other people’s experiences.
Dylan: “I would say really take advantage of talking to different people. Everyone there has a different background. …Make your way to as many different things as possible, and see what excites you and what interests you. But it’s okay to not know what you want to do. Totally fine.”
Alex: “You’re not necessarily going to find out [what you want to do] at Sophomore Summit, but you’ll at least be engaged with many different paths, because you go to these different talks about people and their jobs. You can always ask questions about it. “Why did you want to do this? What from your experiences at Amherst led you to do these certain things?” Just asking questions and then reflecting by yourself, what parts of those jobs sound interesting, what parts of those careers sound interesting. You’ll at least be exposed to the different paths you might be able to take.”
Sophomore Summit might be the only opportunity for a student weighing their options to speak with people from various fields in one space. Indeed, taking advantage of that can be instrumental in determining a career path and identifying your interests.
Networking and Approaching Alumni:
One of the greatest assets in any Amherst student’s career journey is our connections with alumni, people who have been where we are and can provide both useful advice and field-specific information. Although approaching alumni comes with its fair share of nerves, Sophomore Summit provides an environment in which to engage in thoughtful conversations and learn as much as we can from our predecessors. As Dylan says, “alumni really care about you as an individual, and they want to help you.” There’s no one better to help than someone genuinely invested in your journey, not because they have to, but “because they want other people from Amherst to succeed, because they were in the same position that we were. They just come in, they talk about their experiences, they say, ‘Wow, I was probably in your shoes,’ and they’ll help you figure out your career. And then they’re always open to help.” – Alex
So, how do we begin to approach alumni?
Dylan: “I think it’s important to treat it as a conversation and know that it’s not transactional. So, also just wanting to find out more information about them, and they want to find more information about you. I think the biggest piece of advice I would have is to just be yourself and be genuine and be genuinely interested in what they have to say.”
Alex: “Just go in there, have a normal conversation, and try to talk about your interests and what they’re interested in, ask them about their job, and then continuously ask interesting questions that will help you learn about what they do, but also allow them to share their experiences. A lot of time, they’ll give you really good advice.”
When feeling nervous, it’s essential to remember that alumni were students too, and they’re returning to Sophomore Summit for our sakes, because they want to help us succeed.
Making Connections:
Talking to alumni is one of the most important and simultaneously most difficult parts of Sophomore Summit. The last section focused on advice for speaking with alumni, and this section focuses on advice for bridging the gap and making that connection. The connections that you make with alumni will be vital, not only in terms of advice but in terms of garnering support within your chosen field. Although at Sophomore Summit you’ll likely be surrounded by peers, the one-on-one connections you make can be cultivated outside that space as well. In Dylan’s experience, those connections could last years.
Dylan: “I met a lot of great people that have helped me along my journey, and then have made some– we had some networking calls after Sophomore Summit, which was really nice. I also have followed up with them over the years because I was in the Sophomore Summit two years ago, so I’ve still been in contact with them. So, just great connections.”
Alex’s advice is more centered on how to make connections that, like Dylan’s, will hopefully last for years.
Alex: “I think the one thing you can gain the most from talking to alumni is a long-lasting connection. You can always try– it [doesn’t always] work, but you can try to ask for their number or contact info and then set up a call later, one-on-one, and those are always super helpful. And then always ask if there’s anyone else you can talk to based on your interests and who they may be connected to.”
Connections with alumni are inarguably valuable, but so are the connections made through a community of like-minded individuals at Sophomore Summit: your peers at Amherst! Remember to take advantage of the space you’re in to meet new people who are all on the same journey and connect with those who share similar interests. Those connections will serve you just as well as those of alumni.
Dylan: “I think with the community that it provides you, you guys, everyone’s in the same spot, all looking for a job, all wanting to grow and learn more, so knowing that you’re not alone in this process, I think that is super beneficial, and also definitely [making] friends along the way. In my Sophomore Summit group, there were people I didn’t know that I got to know better through that.”
Alex: “You’re really going to get the most out of it if you’re talking to people you haven’t really met before, maybe interested in the same things. And you can make friends at Amherst, but these are lifelong connections that you can tap into when you guys graduate. You’re never going to really have the opportunity to meet people like this, especially as you get older at Amherst, when you’re not a [first-year], where there are new faces all the time. So I would say it’s a good opportunity to meet new people, especially those who are interested in the same things.”
Sophomore Summit is a space of exploration, not only for internal reflection, but for branching outward and meeting new people. The friends you make, peer and alumni relationships that you develop, and advice you garner from this experience could last a lifetime.
Making the Most of Your Experience:
It may be cliché, but any experience is only as good as you make it. Sophomore Summit can be an invaluable experience, or wildly unhelpful; it’s up to you to decide. These are some final words of advice from Dylan and Alex about approaching Sophomore Summit as a whole:
Dylan: “Really just putting your best foot forward, and just trying to maintain normal conversations and being excited, I think that’s the best way to go.”
Alex: “It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime thing where you’re getting exposure to careers for four days or however long it is. You’re just there, learning, talking to people who have been successful, and it’s a great opportunity. You just have to, I keep saying, make the most of it, but it really is that. You’re going to be talking to employers, you’re going to be talking to peers, you’re going to meet people you’ve never met before. You’re going to be talking to these people for a long time, and it could be very helpful for your career or just life in general.”
As I prepare for the Sophomore Summit this year, happening January 21st–January 26th, I find myself coming back to the idea that whether you walk away with a clear career in mind, new alumni connections, a few new friends, or just a bit of advice, the experience’s value truly lies in the energy you bring to it. I, for one, am excited to put my best foot forward and make the most of my time with my fellow sophomores. After all, as Alex put it, we’re all progressing forward in our careers together.
