Equites & Economics by Tian

Equites & Economics by Tian - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

When I was in middle school, my parents gave me a hand-me-down iPhone. Initially, I thought the phone looked cool to hold in my hands and pretend to be an adult. But as I grew familiar with the device, I stumbled upon apps that followed financial markets and public equities. Some names I recognized in my everyday life. Others I read their profiles on. Slowly but surely, I grew to become absolutely fascinated by financial markets and had countless questions to ask. Why did one stock move a particular way on a particular day? Why did certain groups of stocks move in the relatively same direction in the long term? I wanted to know anything and everything about this complicated subject. The constant fluctuation and incoming data hooked my constantly curious self. Prices on my phone changed every single day, bringing about an equally fast changing need to understand why. There always seemed to be more vocabulary and concepts to learn just around the next corner. Coming from a low income Malaysian immigrant family, my parents made it a point to never treat finances, such as budgeting properly, taboo, either; thanks to this household culture, I also understood the importance of financial literacy not only to satisfy my curiosity but to pave a way for a better financial future.

As a young child, I knew no one, family and family friends included, who worked in financial markets. Yet, I did not let that barrier or my under advantaged background stop me from learning what I loved. Instead, through proactivity and pure determination, I self taught myself as much as I could. I digested financial news from sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Seeking Alpha daily. I went through a daily ritual of scrolling through well organized lists of stocks in all 11 sectors I followed. Investopedia and I became close friends when I taught myself technical analysis patterns. When I came home from school, I watched episodes of CNBC’s Fast Money with host Melissa Lee eagerly. Eventually, I even got around to diving into specific companies, learning basic accounting and financial statement vocabulary. At one point, I even tuned into a company’s live earnings call. Even though I greatly enjoyed this intellectual topic, it never occurred to me that my fascinating hobby could somehow shape my future goals and pursuits.

Fast forward to high school, I realized it was about time to decide on my educational plans with college fast approaching. Deciding I needed more official exposure, I cold emailed for finance internships at local firms around my home. To my delighted surprise and good luck, many firms’ founders saw my eager to learn attitude and past work immersing myself in the topic. After a few interviews and conversations, I landed 2 internship offers at boutique investment management firms for 2 consecutive summers. During these summer internships, I discovered ways to combine experience analyzing financial markets with a purpose in helping clients, including retirees and full time professionals, reach their own financial goals. I loved the immersive work and decided from there on, I too wanted to pursue a career in high finance.

I also have my internships and the people involved there to thank for my final decisions on an academic major. Asking for genuine opinions, I asked my professional mentor for a major suggestion to put me on the right path to a career in finance. She suggested economics, detailing how the study of broader markets would build a strong base for me to look at more nuanced markets. I took up her suggestion, applying to all University of California schools with economics as my top choice. In my application, I wrote essays about finance fitting perfectly with my affinity for numbers and love for the pursuit of knowledge. Months later, I received acceptances to every single one of them, eventually committing to the University of California, Berkeley as an economics major. Since then, I have loved every single one of my major related courses, soaking in information from various macroeconomic models to utilitarian philosophy to case studies about the Great Recession. My passion reflects in my first semester, earning a 4.0 in both major and non major courses.

Looking ahead to the future, I reflect on how my small accidental discovery of a stocks app has unfolded. With confidence and excitement, I have set my future academic goal to be graduating with an economics degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Alongside dedication to my interesting coursework, I also want to involve myself with more informal learning opportunities. In my first year at college, I have joined professional finance clubs, too, namely Capital Investments at Berkeley and Women on Wall Street at Berkeley, 2 well known clubs on campus for finance professionals. As a member, I gain access to educational classes taught by upperclassmen, free finance textbooks, opportunity to tap into an alumni network, and more. I hope that all of these intellectual measures will prepare me to deliver the best possible work to future firms and clients in a finance career. And in due time, I also wish to not only utilize my education but put it towards social good as well. With the right financial means, my goal is to also create a scholarship, similar to the one Varsity Tutors offers, to aspiring finance students and contribute to my university’s finance alumni network, too.