Marley Sternberg came to Vanderbilt with two pursuits in mind: to be a student-athlete and to become a doctor. After her first year, she says, “I realized that I didn’t have the passion for medicine I really needed.” She also realized that she “wants to help people in some way” and was interested in studying human behavior. A business career in consulting, specifically in health care or the nonprofit sector, might be a way to “connect with people and find a way to make a difference in the world.”

Marley has stayed with her other pursuit — playing Division I lacrosse — which makes her days at Vanderbilt highly structured. “Between classes, practice, film, strength training, away game travel and homework, I don’t have a lot of time for other activities,” she says.

Since she didn’t have much time during the academic year to explore her career options, a summer program like Accelerator seemed particularly appealing. “Accelerator gave me the perfect opportunity to experience so many different facets of the business world in a relatively short period of time,” Marley says. “Instead of using my limited free time to participate in one internship, I had the opportunity to experience a lot of different fields and work on a wide range of skills.”

Those opportunities, in turn, help Marley gain a clear sense of where she wants to go after she graduates in 2018. “One of the best parts of Accelerator for me was just seeing all of the different areas of business I could potentially go into,” she says. “I had no idea social enterprises and consulting firms existed for companies focused on social issues. This is the first thing I can really see myself doing in the future.”

Fun Fact: Marley plays on the lacrosse team at Vanderbilt.

“Instead of using my limited free time to participate in one [summer] internship, Accelerator gave me the opportunity to explore a lot of different fields and work on a wide range of skills.”