Katherine Hodges aims high. She has already visited 25 countries (and plans to make it to all seven continents). She speaks Spanish and Arabic. SCUBA-certified, she has dived the Red Sea, the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Atlantic. By the time she was a junior at Washington and Lee, she had already completed internships at the office of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and at the Richard Lugar Center in Washington. But when she subsequently was unable to land even more ambitious positions? internships that typically went to graduate students?the experience led her to think about her long-term goals. ?I have always focused heavily on learning about U.S. politics, says Katherine, an economics and politics major. ?But I realized I don?t have the passion for it that I once had. I decided I needed to do Accelerator to find out what I?m good at and passionate about, and also to learn more about business.? She?s not certain yet what that passion is, but she has an idea: She?d like to be in a leadership role with an organization involved with economies in emerging and volatile markets, especially the Middle East. And she credits Accelerator with helping her find a general direction. ?Before Accelerator,? Katherine says, ?I thought I needed to follow one specific path to make money and be successful. Now, I am confident that I don?t have to choose one way or the other. My plan is to find a career that integrates my passions, and my mentors in the program have given me an expanded sense of what is possible for me.? She appears to be well on her way. After graduating in 2016, Katherine accepted a position in Washington, D.C., with a firm involved in complex litigation, antitrust and regulatory issues in the telecommunications field.

I needed to do Accelerator to find out what I?m good at and passionate about, and also to learn more about business.