In an office overlooking the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis, Nanette Schulze, MSA’10, recalls the phone call that changed her life trajectory.

“I was working late and sitting at my desk, frustrated with my job and co-workers,” she recollects. “I was about to finally leave work, and then I received a text.”

It was a friend she’d met while enrolled in the Kelley MSA Program at IUPUI.

“When I called Brian back, I remember him asking, ‘So, what’s going on?’”

Nan replied, “Well, I hope you’re calling me with a better job that pays more money and doesn’t require as many late nights.”

In fact — Brian was calling about such a job.

“I remember that moment like it was yesterday,” Nan says.

Just days after Brian’s impromptu call, Nan interviewed at La Rosa & Co., LLC—a local public accounting firm. She was promptly hired as a staff accountant: her dream job.

While Nan has earned everything she’s received, she says the relationships she developed at Kelley have been a game-changer for her career.

“The reason I’m currently working my dream job, at a wonderful company, is because of my networking at Kelley,” Nan says. “Fifteen years ago, I never would have dreamt I’d be working this job. Honestly, it’s more ambitious than I could have ever hoped for.”

Nan says the Kelley MSA at IUPUI offers ample opportunities to meet professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds. While students have many chances to work alongside distinguished alumni and faculty, Nan says she gained some of her most valuable networking opportunities—and lifelong friendships with classmates—through the Graduate Accounting Student Board.

Today, Nan is a senior accountant at her company.

“I’m proof there’s no limit on what you can do if you just suit up and show up.”