Photo by Demi Youngblood<\/em><\/p>\n

Demi Youngblood
\n<\/span>Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

Students gathered in the Jackson State University H.T. Sampson Library to attend the Networking Party, an event hosted by F1rst Gen, a student organization that strives to assist, guide, and mentor first generation college students, on Nov. 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fleming served as the guest speaker of the Networking Reception, teaching students proper formal dining etiquette and formal event behaviors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fleming is the creator of J. Fleming Leadership and Etiquette and stated that it is important to her to guide students on the dos and don\u2019ts of the corporate world because she understands the importance of learning this information.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons I started J. Fleming Leadership and Etiquette is because I was unprepared when I got into corporate America,\u201d stated Fleming. \u201cI stuck out like a sore thumb being that I was only one of the few blacks at those events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

F1rst Gen aims to bridge the gap between first-generation college students and second-generation college students by hosting events such as this one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students learned that many first-generation college students are breaking barriers for their bloodline but that being the first of your family to attend college comes with many added pressures than the average college student faces. Because of this, people like Fleming and organizations like F1rst Gen are needed and appreciated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m basically being who I needed when I was a fellow college student\u2019s age. I didn\u2019t have the coaching. I didn\u2019t have the unwritten rules for corporate America, so I made a lot of mistakes. I think programs like this help students avoid certain pitfalls and set them up for success. For networking, to know how and what the goal is at any business they will face in the future,\u201d said Fleming.<\/span><\/p>\n

The event included a networking and dining portion. Fleming led the students, instructing them on proper introductions in a very interactive teaching session allowing them to practice these tips on each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fleming also went into great detail on how to connect at networking events. She expressed how important it is for students to find mentors in the careers that they are pursuing and the importance of leaving every event with a new contact and how to follow up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tiwan Cherichel, a freshman business administration major from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was one of the students that felt the event was extremely helpful, especially for freshman.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a freshman, I feel that it is great that I can say that I attended events like this that can help me in the near future,\u201d said Cherichel. \u201cI now have the knowledge of how to act, how to speak, and how to network at future events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Richeriea Anderson, another freshman majoring in criminal justice, expressed her enthusiasm about the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI believe programs like this are definitely beneficial for me. This program definitely pushes and motivates students like me to pursue our future endeavors,\u201d said Anderson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson feels that F1rst Gen has done an excellent job at reaching students and getting them out of their comfort zones by exposing them to the information and experience needed to excel not only in college but after.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis program has helped me a lot with public speaking and joining other organizations. I definitely have been doing a great job of getting myself out there due to their help,\u201d Anderson stated. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Demi Youngblood Demi Youngblood Staff Writer Students gathered in the Jackson State University H.T. Sampson Library to attend the Networking Party, an event…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12148,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12137\/revisions\/12148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}