The Beginning to My Finance Journey

Written by: Bautista Valls

As I grew up, the future always seemed so far. Whether that future was graduating high school, graduating college, getting a job, or retiring, it always seemed like something that I would never have to actually worry about. Clearly, this is not true anymore because of the fact that I am making this website and writing this right now, which illustrates that I am preparing for my future as you will learn more about shortly.

Something I also noticed as I grew up is that no matter where I went or where I was, there was always some type of business or company in sight. This could be anything from the company that made a building to the company that gives electricity to your home. Specifically, what really comes to my mind when thinking about all this is how these companies run or more specifically how do they win. The simple answer to that for me or at least the part that brings me curiosity is the financial side of a company. This is the most important part since without it, the company would not be able to continue. This is because if there is no money circulating, then who is going to want to be a part of it? 

Now, where does wefinwise come into play? After doing a bit of research for my future on what I could do in relation to finance I realised just how many different job options there are in this field. With thousands of different options, knowing which one is right for me seemed impossible and that got me thinking about how others might be in a similar position. With wefinwise, I plan to do research on these different job options in relation to finance so that not only will I be educating myself but help inform others by putting such scattered information all in one place. Eventually I might even have the opportunity to teach others first hand.

My finance journey really began as far back as 9th grade when I came across my school’s finance club. In this club I was introduced to an investing app that would allow me to invest paper money. My club had a competition to see just who could raise the most amount of money in a given period of time and even though I did not win, the thrill and excitement of waking up to see my portfolio was one that stuck with me. Later that year, during summer break, I signed up and attended a Miami Dade College summer camp about the principals of finance. It was here that I first started to actually learn about what finance was all about with things like bonds, index funds, stocks, etc. 

Once I learned some of the principals, the real thing that got me hooked on finance and everything about it happened. Around October of my sophomore year, I began investing my own actual money. Now unlike in my finance club, actually risking my money as well as actually gaining money sparked something inside me that is unexplainable to this day. I would begin doing research on companies to see what I should or shouldn't invest in. I would talk with my dad, my friends and my teachers all just to learn more. Then, after doing that for a year, I asked my parents to sign me up for a pre-college program at Columbia about International Business and Finance. After being accepted I did just that the summer going into 11th grade. This was an experience like no other because of the college aspect of it and how independent they let you be but also most importantly the educational part of it. I was able to learn a lot about how to manage a business and make it successful but also it helped me realize that more than caring about companies as a whole, my real interest was in the finance part of it. Something about doing things like predicting the unpredictable in a trading room sparked something inside me that reassured me about my passion for this field. Currently, In my junior year of Highschool, I joined another club in my school called Future Business Leaders of America where I am participating in a competition about Banking and Financial systems where I hope to expand my knowledge further as I soon get ready for the competition.

So now how exactly do I plan on going about wefinwise to learn more for my future and for the future of others. I plan to go about posting a podcast with an actual expert from a specific field about once a month so that someone with real world experience can share their story as well as give any recommendations and tips. I also plan to post blogs like this one for specific types of jobs related to finance weekly or bi-weekly. In the future once I have gained enough knowledge I even hope to teach others in classes about what I learn so that I can help others who are in a similar position as mine.