For Paras Agarwal, Owen has been a land of opportunities—and it has been hard not to avail himself of them all.

He left his consulting job in India for Vanderbilt, he says, because “I wanted to upgrade my skills to stay ahead of the talent curve.” But the warmth of the community and the openness of the administration to student-driven initiatives all fed his “craving to contribute” and make an impact.

In his first year, along with the rigors of Vanderbilt’s curriculum, Paras immersed himself in new endeavors. He got involved with Net Impact, whose international conference Owen hosted. He joined Project Pyramid, the student-led initiative focused on alleviating global poverty. He became president of the Owen Consulting Club and served as a coach in the Leadership Development Program. He led the Vanderbilt India Association, which attracted over 200 members from across the campus in its first year. He took part in case competitions and consulting projects for Fortune 500 companies.

“There are umpteen opportunities for students to learn, lead and leapfrog to success,” Paras says. He credits them with helping him land his dream job with Deloitte Consulting, where he has risen to become a senior manager.

Vanderbilt, he says, “challenged me to step out and develop new and latent abilities, both as a professional and as a person.”