After spending a month at Vanderbilt, participating in the Accelerator Summer Business program, Michelle Woodworth decided to come back after graduation for a whole year.

Upon completing her degree at Lafayette College, Michelle entered the working world for a year. However, she says, “I didn’t feel as though I was being challenged enough on a day-to-day basis. I also wanted to work in a team environment and felt that this [MAcc] degree would be the best opportunity for me.”

She found the experience “challenging but rewarding.” As Michelle explains, “You have to put in the work in order to see the rewards. The program shapes you into a business professional and provides you with the opportunity to succeed in areas you didn’t even know were possible.”

Along with what she learned in the classroom, Michelle is particularly grateful for the value-added efforts of the program staff. “They really gave us the tools to succeed during our internships,” she says. “We had multiple lessons on interview skills and professional development that transformed many of us. The different lunch sessions we had provided useful information on topics that a student might not necessarily think about when going into an internship.”

The internship at EY’s Nashville office led to a job after graduation — and the opportunity to stay on in the city where she had come to love spending time at Percy Warner Park and in the Germantown area. “With the confidence, leadership and professional development skills I have gained,” she says, “I now feel prepared to succeed in my career."