To be in the Kelley Honors Program, students must have a 3.7 GPA, be strong campus leaders, and mentor underclassmen also in the program.
And yet, through all the studying and hard work, seniors Nick Innocenti and Kristin Ayres have somehow made a long-term relationship work for the last two years.
“Do you want to say how we met? You can say how we met,” Innocenti says, looking over at Ayres.
“We took a class freshman year in the spring that goes to India in the summer,” she begins.
“Called ‘Business in a Flat World,’” Innocenti adds.
“I was dating someone else at the time. I didn’t see Nick in class ever, so I didn’t really know him.”
“I recognized her from class, I’ll admit it,” he says.
After traveling through four cities in 10 days cramped in buses, the group of students became close.
“And then in August, I was still looking for housing,” says Innocenti. “I ended up randomly in Brownstone Terrace, two doors down from her and her roommates.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna go with ‘randomly...’” says Ayres. “But I’m still not sure.”
“Well, she was living with two other girls, and they’d always make these huge dinners and have extra food,” he explains. “So I just started showing up, and right around 6:30 was the prime time.”
The two started dating in November.
Over the past few years, Innocenti and Ayres have worked at balancing academics and extracurriculars with a committed relationship.
Junior year, Ayres says she studied about eight to 10 hours a week. She also was president of IU’s equestrian team, which took up about 10 hours each week.
Innocenti says he studies about 12-15 hours per week. He’s also currently president of the Civic Leadership Development program, a volunteer organization in Kelley that works with nonprofit agencies in Monroe County.
“There are days we don’t see each other because we’re so busy,” he says.
And yet even with full course loads, officer positions in clubs, and volunteering, the two seniors manage to find time for each other.
“We do activities together, we’re both out volunteering,” says Innocenti. “Outside of that we both do homework together. Then we’ll take breaks and bake something – we’ve done a lot of baking over the years.”
“And we do a good job supporting each other’s stuff,” adds Ayres. “He comes to horse shows and I go to his CDL events.”
Although graduation will find the two in different state,s with Ayres at KBMG in Chicago and Innocenti with GE in Kentucky, they say the distance won’t hurt them.
“The key is to be flexible,” says Innocenti. “We’re both really easygoing. And we have trust built up. At this stage, a little separation isn’t a big deal.”
