For Kelley seniors, four years at Indiana University have gone by quickly. Between classes, I-CORE, student organizations, internships, recruiting, and everything else that comes with college, the experience looks a lot different now than it did walking into Hodge Hall for the first time.

Looking back, seniors know plenty of things now that they wish they had known as freshmen. One of the biggest is that you do not need to have everything figured out right away. Freshman year can come with a lot of pressure to choose a major, join the right organizations, find internships, and start thinking about a career. At Kelley, students are surrounded by people pursuing different paths in finance, consulting, accounting, marketing, sales, entrepreneurship, and more. Classes, internships, professors, organizations, and conversations with other students can introduce career paths that may not have even been on their radar when they first arrived at Kelley.

Getting involved is another part of the Kelley experience that seniors tend to look back on differently. Countless student organizations, workshops, professional fraternities, case competitions, and other opportunities are available. While getting involved can help students professionally, it is also one of the easiest ways to meet people outside of class and find a smaller community within a large business school.

The same goes for recruiting. Kelley introduces students to career preparation early, but finding an internship or full-time job does not happen overnight. For many seniors, the recruiting process involved career fairs, applications, interviews, networking, alumni conversations, and sometimes figuring out what they did not want to do before finding what they did.

There are also parts of college that have nothing to do with a resume. Going to an IU basketball game, studying abroad, trying a class outside of your major, meeting someone new in Hodge, or spending a weekend with friends may not seem as important freshman year, but those experiences become a big part of what students remember about their time at IU.

If there is one thing Kelley seniors understand better than they did four years ago, it is how quickly the experience moves. Freshman year can feel like there is plenty of time to figure everything out, but suddenly I-CORE is over, internships become full-time job offers, and graduation starts to feel a lot closer.

For the Class of 2030, there are still four years of Kelley ahead. There will be classes to take, organizations to join, internships to apply for, and probably a few changes of plans along the way.

The seniors who were once sitting in those same freshman classrooms are now getting ready for what comes next. And looking back, most would probably agree on one thing. Take advantage of Kelley, but don’t spend so much time preparing for what comes next that you miss what is happening now.