For Sycamore Lily Randolph, ’26, numbers have always made sense.
The Chatham, Illinois, native describes herself as a numbers person who values stability and routine – qualities that led her to pursue dual majors in accounting and finance outside her home state at Indiana State University.
“I feel like, with accounting, one of the big attractions of that job is that there will always be work in that area,” the 2026 Hines Memorial Medal recipient explains. “So, choosing those majors was a combination of me liking the number side of things, as well as the job stability in that profession.”
While researching schools, Randolph was drawn to Indiana State’s affordability and smaller class sizes, which average 16 students to one professor. This allowed her to build meaningful relationships with her professors.
“A lot of the Illinois schools, even being in-state, are more expensive than Indiana. And I feel like the smaller class sizes [at Indiana State] definitely cater to you cultivating a relationship with your professors, which is really important to me. They helped me get jobs on campus and have written letters of recommendation for me after graduation.”
Studying for two majors in the Scott College of Business while staying on track to graduate in four years kept Randolph busy, but she still found time to take advantage of exciting opportunities beyond the classroom.
Among her favorite experiences were dance fitness classes and intramural co-ed pickleball, where she and her doubles partner won indoor and outdoor campus titles.
"I played tennis in high school, and pickleball is the new craze,” she explains. “It can get competitive in these intramurals, but it’s fun. My partner’s really good, too. I have to give credit where credit’s due!”
Her Indiana State experience also took Randolph far beyond Terre Haute, with study abroad excursions through the Honors College and as part of a business course.
“The summer of my freshman year, I went to Greece,” she recalls. “And then, last summer, in 2025, I went to Portugal with Dr. Aruna Chandra for a management entrepreneurship course we were doing there. That was obviously very awesome, getting to travel internationally.”
Before her trip to Greece, Randolph says she had never been outside the United States. The experience sparked a love of international travel. To celebrate graduation, she and her mother planned a trip to Paris, France, before Randolph began her new job in June with Illinois National Bank (INB), where she had previously interned.
“I’ll be at their headquarters in Springfield, where I’ll be working as an accountant,” Randolph explains. “I’ll be doing classic accounting work for them. I’m excited!”
During her internship, Randolph researched how artificial intelligence (AI) could support INB’s accounting operations. While she sees significant potential for AI to help with automating time-consuming manual processes and locating information in disparate spreadsheets and databases, she does not see employees in her profession being replaced by AI anytime soon.
“There is so much human judgment and professional skepticism that goes into reviewing the work. There is too much concern about improper processing by AI, as well as the security of people’s financial information and social security numbers. [AI] is helpful in so many other spaces, but in terms of complete takeover of positions ... for accounting, I feel like we’re safe, at least for now.”
Although an entrepreneurship class introduced her to business ownership, Randolph says she does not aspire to launch her own Certified Public Accounting firm, though she does intend to begin studying for her CPA exam this summer.
“Entrepreneurship is not really my main thing,” she explains. “I’m a super-cautious person, so I don’t know if I would ever feel comfortable enough to take that risk. But I would like to advance in my career and have my CPA license, financial stability, and job security.”
Indiana State also provided valuable opportunities for professional networking. In April, Randolph was chosen to represent the University at a scholarship awards banquet hosted by the Indianapolis chapter of Financial Executives International. She was one of seven student representatives from universities across Indiana nominated to attend the event, where she met the chief financial officer of Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana, among other business leaders.
“I love thrifting, so my mind was blown,” Randolph exclaims. “I was like, ‘I am sitting at the same table as the CFO of Goodwill. Wow!’ Definitely a good networking tool, even for connecting with people my age from the different universities.”
As for her time at Indiana State, Randolph says she will miss her friends, many from the Honors College, and her professors, with whom she plans to stay in touch as her career gets underway.
“I think the overall size of Indiana State is its main distinguishing factor,” she says. “It makes it so much easier, because I can walk across campus, see a flyer, and just go to that callout meeting. I feel like, with a bigger campus, you don’t even know all that is available to you.”
“Word of mouth here is such a major marketing tool,” Randolph adds. “It’s like, ‘Oh, my friends heard about this thing; I think I’m going to go.’ I like knowing what’s going on and attending different things, and that’s much easier with this campus size.”
That sense of connection extended into the classroom, where Randolph says her courses gave her opportunities to work with many friendly and knowledgeable instructors.
“If you want to have a close relationship with your professors, all you have to do is show up and be present in the classes. I had so many repeat professors. They knew what they were getting with me and I knew what I was getting with them. I felt completely comfortable emailing them if I had a question about something. I will be keeping in contact with so many of my professors after graduation.”
For Lily Randolph, Indiana State showed what it means to go all IN. The University provided exactly what she was looking for: meaningful mentorship, academic programs that prepared her for a successful future, and opportunities to grow personally and professionally.
For someone who has always trusted numbers, choosing Indiana State University proved to be the decision that added up just right.
