When my roommates and I decided to live together this year, we went into it knowing that our roommate would be going through one of Indiana University's greatest hells: I-Core. The dreaded semester long struggle that junior business students go through in order to become big fancy business professionals.
The idea of I-Core fascinates me to be honest, you've got about a thousand junior college business majors all going through the same thing, taking virtually one giant class all semester, sometimes more, and you can't opt out of it. I've always thought it seemed a bit excessive, but that's just a lowly journalism major's opinion! Irregardless, year after year, I-Core takes countless victims' time, effort, and ultimately: their sanity.
My roommate is probably the most hard-working and motivated person I've ever met, her work ethic astounds me, her positivity throughout I-Core has been more than I probably could have ever had. But every I-Core student goes through a process of pain and comes out of it with side effects. Not to mention their roommates. We experience it from the sidelines, hear about how awful it is, and thank God we never have to go through it. There are stages that each I-Core student and all of their surrounding friends and family must go through.
1. The slow disappearance of your I-Core roommate into the depths of the Kell-hole (aka the Kelley School of Business)
As the semester drags on, you start to see less and less of your poor roommate, especially around three parts of the semester. Midterms, finals, and the dreaded case that they go through at the end of the semester during dead week. You see glimpses and shadows of them, if you're lucky.
2. The random outbursts of frustration and violent threats.
Not to you, of course. But I can't count how many times she would be sitting at her desk going over something for a group project, and she'd curse the world (IU) for bringing Icore onto her life.
3. Siding with them when they complain about their stupid group project member.
They are always right. Nod your head and agree with them. That one guy in their group who keeps changing the formatting is scum. We hate that guy.
4. Listening to random business terms and pretending you understand.
I do not understand business at all. So when my roomie starts complaining about ops and management and the proper way to format a fancy business report, you just gotta nod along and smile. Smile and empathize, people. Smile and empathize.
5. Forcing them to go out with you when you know they're stressed out of their minds.
Sometimes your roomie just needs to go dance and hang with their homies. That's where you come in. Kidnap them and let them loose on the dance floor. They'll come back refreshed and ready to face the Kelley.
6. But respecting when they gotta stay in and study.
Being a Kelley kid is hard. Lots of group projects, lots of random assignments and stress that they must go through to
7. Don't get annoyed by the other Kelley bots.
My favorite nickname for my favorite people. Most of my friends are Kelley students, and I constantly find myself surrounded by conversations dominated by Kelley talk. I gotta cope people. Sometimes you gotta lay down the law and hit the off switch on those Kelley bots. Turn the topic to something fun, like chocolate, or tacos. Tacos normally work.
8. Always be available for ice cream runs.
This one's a fun one. I'm always down for ice cream.
9. ALSO be down for random dance parties.
When you see them start to fade, it's only your duty to pump them up. Keep 'em moving, if they stop dancing they're done for.
10. Don't give up hope.
They'll be back to you, better than ever, and finally free when they turn in that final case. Celebrate with them, keep them smiling and motivated, and always be around for a hug or vent sesh if they need it.
Watching my roommate go through I-Core was not only sort of painful, but also showed me how dedicated and driven she was. Sure, sometimes people over-dramatize Kelley, but I-Core is no joke. Working with that many people in group projects for a whole semester and then intensely for so many consecutive days at the end of the semester alone would drive me crazy. But she taught me so much about focus and motivation that I would find myself feeling bad because I wasn't working as hard as she was. She probably even made me a better student.
And once they've survived, send them home for winter break and get ready for the return of your I-Core roommate: I-Core-less. Prepare yourself for next semester, when they undoubtedly will make up for all the lost time spent on I-Core and all it's hellish glory.
