Vanessa Miller Email: Phone: -- B.A. in Mathematics and Communication from Denison University, 2004

Immediately upon graduation from Denison, I moved to Andover, Massachusetts for a summer.  I was a TA at Phillips Academy, and had the great pleasure of lecturing Descartes to a gaggle of drowsy high school juniors and seniors.  Though it was nice to try my hand at teaching, I was eager to begin my first job out of school as a Business Analyst with Deloitte Consulting in Cleveland, Ohio.  

I worked at Deloitte for nearly two years, on a number of projects for various clients around the country, before I decided that the corporate world wasn’t exactly my thing.  After conducting quite a bit of research on the advertising industry, I put my second major (Communication) to use and left Deloitte for a job as an Assistant Account Executive at an advertising agency in downtown Cleveland.  These days, during the course of an average week, I split my time among managing client relationships and creative projects, writing strategy documents and briefs, and participating in brainstorming meetings.  What I love about my job: I wear jeans to work; our quirky office space—includes a basketball hoop, mannequin, and Nintendo 64 console; my coworkers are hilarious; and there is a Starbucks within walking distance.

My Denison education prepared me for these three, very different opportunities by “teaching me how to think,” as trite as that may sound.  Having spent a good chunk of my college career working my way through various proofs and trying to survive Advanced Analysis, I learned how to work through problems logically, from start to finish.  With a dual background in Communication, I am now equipped to tackle advertising issues head on, from an analytical perspective that is the result of a strong and well-rounded education.  

Moral: Though it sounds like a narrow field to some, a background in mathematics opens more doors than you’d ever imagine.