Charles Crumbo was excited to realize that the Accelerator Summer Business Immersion program offered him a way to delve into the broad range of finance careers while also temporarily returning to his hometown. “Growing up in Nashville, I’d heard Accelerator helped aspiring young professionals to engage and grow,” he says. “I knew I couldn’t pass up a great opportunity right in my backyard!”

Charles initially planned to pursue law school after earning his undergraduate degree. But after 2 summers working as an intern with a legal nonprofit in Nashville, he realized he wanted a different career path. “I wanted to pursue other avenues, especially in finance,” he says. “Finance is really broad, and the Accelerator program was an opportunity to gain clarity about where I want to focus my attention during my 2 remaining years in college.”

During his 3-week Accelerator experience, Charles refined his career goals. “I like to execute on problems and see things through to completion—I don’t like just to hand off the solution,” he says. “This program affirmed my pull toward entrepreneurship and corporate finance.”

Charles found the coffee chats with coaches and professors especially valuable. “The chats allowed me to build relationships and trust with people, so I felt comfortable asking some tough questions about what it’s really like to work in finance,” he says.

He describes the program as “energizing. There was never a day that I looked at the calendar and wasn’t excited to come to classes and immerse myself. From the first day, the program paid me dividends because I showed up with a mentality that I was ready to learn and have my preconceived ideas challenged.

“The projects were amazing, and working as part of a team allowed me to learn how to be both a better team member and leader,” Charles adds. “We also learned many fundamentals about how to build a resume and succeed in the job hunt. We had panel discussions with consultants and investment bankers who explained why they picked their industries. And we had a networking night with people representing companies in several industries with offices in Nashville.”

Fun Fact: Charles worked as a camp counselor and dishwasher at a resort-area restaurant during summers in high school.

One of this program’s biggest strengths is that we have people from many backgrounds who problem-solve differently.