For some time, Aidan McCormack had been mulling over an idea: Find a way to pair his musical interests with business skills and experience. In the spring of 2024, he began seeing ads on the Vanderbilt campus for Accelerator. He noticed more ads on Instagram. Suddenly, his idea began taking shape.

“I know the pathways for people in music school usually involve continuing education,” he says. “One pathway is to become a professor, but I’ve always been interested in a more global perspective. I wanted to really see what was out there for me in terms of a career, and part of that included getting some consulting experience.”

Accelerator offered that. But during his 3 weeks, Aidan found the program gave him even more than the foundation in business skills and real-world consulting opportunities that had originally attracted him. He also gained a better understanding of how and where he fit.

“The biggest takeaway, I think, was how exactly I fit into a team,” he says. “Teamwork is critical to all the Accelerator projects because you work in teams of 6. You need to moderate your own strengths and weaknesses in a group of people who are high achievers. So, I learned I could work on communicating more assertively and effectively.

“One of my biggest goals coming in was career discernment. I could see myself as a music composition student going on to write music for movies and video games. I could see myself going into nonprofit performing arts management. On the other end of the career spectrum, I could see myself becoming a management consultant. The biggest joy I’ve had is really figuring out where my strengths lie and learning that they might actually map themselves into a specific career path.”

At the end of the program, Aidan’s path was clear: He wanted to pursue nonprofit management. “Accelerator gave me so many different tools, from the classes to the teamwork and self-knowledge to the great faculty mentors. All of that has helped me feel like I have very clear steps forward.”

Fun Fact: Aiden’s hobbies include tending to his huge houseplant collection and baking garlic bread.

The biggest joy I’ve had is really figuring out where my strengths lie.