Your story behind Finance

Hello monkeys!

Just wondering, what's your story behind finance? Other than the classic example of money or prestige- any interesting stories here?

I'll start with a story about a friend:

I came to Singapore, not knowing what I wanted to major in - I was basically clueless. I didn't even know how I ended up here- perhaps my parents had way too much hope in me.

After a bit of soul searching and what not, I found out that one of the highest paying jobs here in Singapore was finance. Not coincidentally, the consensus "best major" in my business school was finance.

Hence, I began my journey. Singapore, being a very finance-oriented city, offered a myriad of finance-related experiences. I joined a mentorship program from a finance society and was very lucky to be introduced to a person in the industry who I could rely on.

Slowly but surely, I did a bit of networking and research, and learned about the various divisions in banking. I still didn’t know what to do though.

The spark really came when I joined a stock trading competition held by an organization in my university. Remember the mentor from before? He helped me immensely, giving me trade ideas and tips. Finally, I won the competition- and that’s when I knew I wanted to do sales and trading. This basically translated to actual trading, and I really liked the fact that I was making money off what I loved to do.

A few competitions later, with failures and victories, trying my best to get a 4.0, and always trying to polish my CV, I finally made it – I landed a BB sales and trading internship. Granted, it wasn’t like what I thought I’d do, but nevertheless, a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything else!

Any of you have stories like this too? What was your “spark” for finance?

9 Comments
 
"Dealova" What was your "spark" for finance?
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

During my Sophomore year, having already developed mixed feelings about Computer Science, I was randomly dragged into the university's Trading-related club meeting. Pretty sure that I fell in love with the charts and numbers at first sight.

Been a prop trader for almost 2 years now and still loving it, even though at times I just feel like flipping my desk and heading to the forest/hills/wilderness.

 

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