The excitement started before Eli Barkley ever stepped into a classroom.
A senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio, Barkley arrived at Kent State University’s Memorial Athletic and Convocation (MAC) Center for Preview KSU on Oct. 16, joining hundreds of prospective students and their families for a day designed to help them picture their future as Golden Flashes.
Inside, the atmosphere felt more like a pep rally than a traditional college visit. The Marching Golden Flashes played, the cheer and dance teams took the floor and T-shirts flew into the crowd. Kent State President Todd Diacon welcomed the gathering, setting the tone for a day of exploring what Kent State has to offer.
“It was honestly pretty exciting,” Barkley told Kent State Today. “It definitely got me excited to check out the campus and go around everywhere and listen to what everyone has to say.”
Barkley found a familiar face in his high school friend Holden Morris, and the two settled in to take in the opening festivities together.
For a prospective college student, it was an energetic introduction to university life — and a chance to begin imagining what the next chapter might look like.
Finding His Future in Finance
Barkley came to Preview KSU with a particular interest in business, especially finance. His next stop brought him to Crawford Hall, home of the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, where he could explore the academic programs that might shape his college experience.
There, he learned that studying finance at Kent State can mean much more than taking notes and reading textbooks. The opportunities to apply classroom lessons, collaborate with other students and gain practical experience caught his attention.
One example stood out: the Golden Flash Asset Management Group, a student group that invests more than $1 million, giving students a chance to engage with financial decision-making beyond the classroom.
“The finance program is definitely very interesting,” Barkley said.
The experience helped him see how his interests could translate into an active, hands-on education. Touring the building, learning about classes and asking questions gave him a clearer sense of what studying business at Kent State could look like.
The visit was also an opportunity to explore the environment where that learning would happen — from the classrooms and facilities to the people and programs that make up the college.
“The Crawford building looks super cool,” Barkley said.
For a student considering his next step after high school, those details matter. A major might draw a prospective student to a university, but seeing the spaces, meeting the people and discovering the experiences available can help make the possibilities feel real.
Discovering More of Kent State
After exploring his academic interests, Barkley continued his day at the Kent Student Center, where he could learn about the many resources, activities and experiences available beyond the classroom.
That broader look is an important part of Preview KSU. The event is designed to give prospective students and their families an immersive introduction to the university, bringing academic departments together with opportunities to explore campus life, tour facilities, learn about housing and connect with student services.
Rather than simply walking through campus, visitors can spend time discovering the parts of college life that matter most to them, whether that means finding the right academic program, learning about student organizations or beginning to picture where they might live and spend time between classes.
For Barkley, the day offered a glimpse of a university with more to discover than he might have realized before arriving.
“Preview KSU really showed me how cool of an atmosphere Kent State has and all the awesome hidden parts of it and everything that’s going on,” he said.
That sense of discovery was part of what made the experience meaningful. By moving from the energy of the MAC Center to Crawford Hall and then to the Kent Student Center, Barkley could begin connecting the different pieces of a potential college experience.
Already Looking Ahead to Next Fall
By the end of the day, Barkley had explored an area of study that interested him, learned more about the university’s opportunities and experienced some of the enthusiasm that surrounds life at Kent State.
Preview KSU gave him more than a tour. It helped him imagine himself as part of the campus community — not just as a visitor, but as a student preparing to begin a new chapter.
For Barkley, the prospect of returning next fall as a Golden Flash is an intriguing one.
“I’m definitely excited to come here next year,” he said.
And after a day filled with music, new discoveries and a closer look at his future in finance, he left with a better understanding of what that future could hold.
For students still weighing their college options, Preview KSU offers a chance to experience Kent State for themselves: to meet the people, explore the programs and see how their interests might fit into life as a Golden Flash.
For Barkley, that future is already beginning to come into focus.
