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Although I still have another month until I enter my 20s, I’m getting a taste of what the rest of my corporate life will look like, or so I think.

What started out as an unsure group of 14 students has turned into an evolutionary student-led company, never-failing recruitment tool and an ample amount of networking. Being able to be joint-CEO of the Barton International Group at Wichita State University has allowed me to partake in all of these outcomes, but any member you ask won’t say it was a cake walk to get to them.

Everyone understood going in that we would be forming, storming, norming and hopefully performing at high levels as a team. We held Wichita State’s Barton School of Business and its faculty’s reputation in our hands. We were faced with providing real results, or receiving real consequences.

And the Pace Quickens

After our success with working with Spirit AeroSystems at its new Malaysian plant last summer, the idea of the Barton International Group took off. Students showed interest and faculty members offered help. As we have started our second year of the program, we have a senior associate team (made up of 12 of last year’s members) as well as the new associates which encompass 17 fresh faces.

Just like a real company, promotions, demotions and firings are all realistic options. Each member understands this concept and works hard to form ideas, delegate instruction and create satisfactory results for the betterment of the Barton International Group. A little overboard? We like to think not. We know this is just a prelude for the expectations of our future employers.