In September 2022, Julie Park ’23 had just begun her final year as a Drexel Dragon, kicking the year off by studying abroad in Spain. She was excited, hopeful and panicked.
“The senior anxiety hit me pretty bad,” says Park, a global/international studies major with a concentration in business, economics and development. “As a Drexel student you’re always go, go, go. It’s like they say, ‘Ambition can’t wait.’ In that moment, I realized I had no idea what the future held, and it scared me.”
At the suggestion of her adviser, Park joined Dragon Network, Drexel’s online professional development community for alumni and students. Dragon Network serves as a one-stop shop that facilitates career-focused conversations, provides professional development opportunities and unites Dragons from around the world — one connection at a time. It was there that Park uncovered the confidence and inspiration to explore what the future held, thanks to a new mentor, friend and fellow Drexel Dragon, James Varughese ’06.
Upon joining Dragon Network, Park discovered Varughese, a Drexel alumnus living in the San Francisco Bay area. Varughese was a suggested connection for Park based on their shared professional and personal interests, all detailed in their Dragon Network profiles. Within a week of their initial connection, the two scheduled their first call to learn more about one another, says Park.
“I was interested in the platform purely for networking purposes, but by connecting with James, I’ve gained so much more than that — he’s become an incredible mentor who has a shared understanding of the Drexel experience,” she says.
For Varughese, who currently serves as a customer experience leader at Intuit, joining Dragon Network as an alumnus provided its own benefits.
“My career has gone through many ups and downs. I’ve worked in organizations of various sizes, in a number of roles, and Drexel helped prepare me for that,” he says. “I’m keen on the belief that people can’t do things alone, and this was a way for me to give back.”
Over the course of a year, Varughese and Park’s relationship has evolved into a true mentorship, one that continues to prepare Park for life after graduation and allows Varughese to share his experience and insights — and even continue learning himself.
“One day, I’m going to be a leader who is responsible for a team comprised of different generations, and I’m going to need to understand how they work, what they value, and what motivates them — those are things I’m really interested in learning,” says Varughese.
Both Park and Varughese agree that one of the aspects that sets Dragon Network apart is its design, providing the opportunity for users to share interests, hobbies and professional goals that have the potential to yield stronger, more meaningful connections.
For Varughese, this framework builds on his personal mission to act as a resource for a new generation of Drexel undergraduate and young alumni, finding ways to share the experiences that shaped his own post-graduate journey. As a frequent guest speaker for Drexel marketing students, Varughese has talked at length about his move from the East Coast to the West Coast, a topic that has resonated with a growing number of students. Moving to California was a key milestone for Varughese, one that he attributes as central to his professional and personal growth. These speaking engagements, much like his participation in Dragon Network, have provided an opportunity for Varughese to start conversations around important topics for students at this critical point in their lives, something he wishes had been more accessible to him as an undergraduate.
“From a student perspective, this platform allows current students to create connections with people who want to help and who understand where they are in their life, which is so valuable and can be hard to find,” Varughese says.
“You get out of it what you put in, so you have to be a little more open and willing to share more about yourself, but it’s in service of helping folks who could have been just like me. I wish I had someone like that early in my career,” he adds.
Today, Varughese and Park maintain their regular check-ins, where, admittedly, Park’s focus has shifted from affirmation to exploration.
“Finding a mentor like James has kept me grounded, and now I know there’s no such thing as ‘doing it right,’” Park says.
“Putting myself out there on Dragon Network and meeting James, it’s helped me realize that there are a number of ways to grow both personally and professionally, to shape who you want to be in the future,” she adds. “It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but that vulnerability has helped me to be less scared of the future and embrace what lies ahead.”