Non-target freshman trying to break into IB needing advice
Hi! I just finished up my first year at an SEC school (non-target). I'm dual majoring in Accounting/Finance and have a 4.0 so far. I'm involved in a couple of the finance and accounting orgs on campus, have a couple of Bloomberg certs, and managed to get into one possibly two Big 4 discovery programs for freshman year, which I'm happy about, but I know those aren't IB.
I wasn't able to land any internships for my freshman year which people say is normal, but I feel like it will hurt me in the future.
I originally came into college thinking I'd just do accounting. I was planning on getting my CPA and working at some accounting firm. However, after taking some of my first business classes this semester I got more interested in the deal side and now IB is what I actually interests me.
The thing I keep running into is that everyone says "just network" but nobody explains what that means past "send cold emails and go to events." I'm an introvert so just going to up random people and talking genuinely doesn't come naturally to me. I do like working with people once I'm comfortable, but getting there is just the hard part.
Academically I feel like I am in a decent spot. I already have around 60 credit hours so I'm taking junior and senior level classes now. My main plan was to front load on academics so I could focus more on my professional side during my next couple of years.
So my real question is: what should I actually be doing this summer? Is there a realistic path for me or have I already messed up? Am I screwed coming from a non-target and being a introvert?