As a kid, my mother taught me to look on the streets for coins dropped on the floor and start saving them. I would collect coins in a small box, dump them out once it got full, and start counting my earnings. Once I finished adding up the total, I would be proud of how much I was able to collect and I would start again. This was my “job.” It was my way of helping out my parents. They both worked two jobs day and night to make ends meet. My parents always struggled with their finances, but no matter how tired they got, they only worked harder to grow their money. I saw other family members do the same once they moved to this country. I was curious about how people gained and then lost their money in an almost endless cycle. Even at a young age, I knew how stressful handling money was, but I was fascinated to learn. My parents would teach me how to manage money and what to avoid so I don’t end up worrying about making ends meet like they have. They often say that when I become rich one day I can do whatever I want with my life stress-free. This is what inspired me to pursue finance, the idea of being able to financially support myself and my family stress-free. I hope to one day support my parents, just as they have supported me my whole life. While my parents taught me all they know about managing money, I’ve noticed how many resources I still lack compared to people my age who come from high-income families. Once I got invited to a scholar reception brunch where I met with students from all over my city who had parents who were doctors and lawyers. They had better financial resources to succeed financially as adults. They were the same age as me and had the same educational goals as me, and yet they had a head start. If I’ve learned anything coming from a low-income family it’s that having the right knowledge to handle and grow money is crucial to financial success. When I graduate, I plan to extend my knowledge to low-income communities. People struggling financially can learn proper spending habits and investing if given the right resources. I find it vital that low-income communities get greater attention and more opportunities. People shouldn’t have a disadvantage because of their background. They should have every chance to become successful.

When I first watched the business channel at the age of eleven my first question was why? Why was this company losing money while another company was growing big and making headlines? This eventually applied to society as a whole. Why did some people have money problems while others didn’t? These questions are the core of why I am pursuing a business degree. My goal is to find the answers to the question of “why,” to eventually conclude how it can be changed. Growing up, my parents worked day and night to earn money to support us. We fell under the category of people who struggled with money problems. I understood how important money was when I was four which is when I was told “A penny saved is a penny earned.” My mother would teach me to look on the streets for coins dropped on the floor and start saving them (a habit I still hold to this day). I would collect coins in a small box and then dump it out once it got full and start counting my earnings. Once I finished adding up the total, I would be proud of how much I was able to collect and I would start again. I’ve come a long way from counting up the coins I find on the street. I’m now in my first year of college and I have already learned so much from my financial literacy class. During the lectures, I realized that the subjects we were learning about credit, taxes, investing, and spending habits are all vital for people’s financial health, and yet this isn’t readily available information. I come from a low-income family, so I’ve seen first-hand how my parents had to learn how to manage money themselves without prior knowledge from their school or their parents. My parents had to learn to budget their money and avoid debt through trial and error, but many financial mistakes they had to make to learn could’ve been avoided if they had been taught how to handle their finances. I again asked myself the big question: why? Why isn’t financial literacy strongly implemented in public education, and what can I do to change that? While my parents have taught me all they know about managing money, I’ve noticed how many resources I still lack compared to people my age who come from high-income and higher-middle-class families. When I got accepted to the school I currently attend, they graciously invited me to a scholar reception brunch. I met with students from all over my city who had parents who were doctors and lawyers and were given better financial advice and resources to succeed financially as adults. They were the same age as me and had the same educational goals as me, and yet they had a head start. Fortunately, I have the motivation to learn about personal finance and succeed. When I graduate, I plan to extend my knowledge to low-income communities. If given the right resources, people struggling financially can learn proper spending habits and investing. I find it vital that low-income communities get greater attention and more opportunities. People shouldn’t have a disadvantage because of their background. They should have every chance to become successful. One penny can only take a person so far.

When it comes to immigrants here in the United States, many people underestimate the determination and bravery that comes with moving to a new country and starting a new life. The story of my parents aligns with this. My father works day and night installing flooring in apartments around the city and my mother used to clean houses in the penthouses on the Las Vegas Strip. In their free time, my dad would rent out bouncy houses for parties and my mom would sell cakes for birthdays or baby showers. As a kid, I didn’t realize my parents worked so hard because of necessity but rather because they were naturally ambitious. I looked up to them and thought they were working luxurious jobs. My dad got to drive around the city and talk to different homeowners and landlords while my mom got to work in Las Vegas penthouses all the way up on the 20th to 30th floor with amazing views of the Strip. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized many people consider these jobs lower-level, blue-collar jobs. There were times when they had to work non-stop just to maintain themselves and one day reach their long-term goals of affording real estate and investment opportunities. The older I got, the more my parents talked to me about money. They explained how they had to teach themselves about financial literacy without the guidance of their parents. My parents want an easier life for me without having to live with financial burdens while being forced to work constantly. Although I thought their jobs to be extravagant, I also saw how exhausted they were. I would see how exhausted my mom was every night after working twelve hours cleaning two, sometimes three, enormous penthouses. There were some days I wouldn’t even see my dad since he would get up to go to work at four or five in the morning and would get back home at midnight, just to sleep and go back to work five hours later. I always admired their ability to work that often. They rarely complained about it, and, if anything, seemed more determined to achieve their financial goals. Compared to a decade ago, my parents' workload has decreased significantly. My mom is now unable to work due to her fibromyalgia and my dad has to work less to let his body heal after years of labor-intensive work and his developing glaucoma. Despite their health conditions, they continue to chase their dreams and have always told me to follow my own. Money has been an interest of mine my whole life, and that was due largely to my parents cleverly handling the money they earned. I’m studying business in college to achieve financial security for myself and my family. I hope to one day support my parents, just as they have supported me my whole life.

I learned about the concept of money from a young age. I remember being a four-year-old already learning about the importance of saving money and how “a penny saved is a penny earned.” My mother would teach me to look on the streets for coins dropped on the floor and start saving them (a habit I still hold to this day). I was always interested in money, but I didn’t know I wanted to pursue a career in a business-related field until I was eleven. The first time I watched the business channel, I was captivated by rapid price changes, switching between red and green like Christmas lights. While I had no understanding of the stock market at the age of eleven, I desperately needed to know what it all meant. From that point on, I knew my goal would be to major in business. Success has different definitions for every individual. Most commonly, people view success as being wealthy. As a business enthusiast, I understand the importance of money. Having money is important professionally and even personally, but in my opinion, I don’t think I will be considered successful just if I become wealthy in the future. I see a successful person finding something they are truly passionate about and putting as much effort and dedication into that passion as possible, not solely for money, but for their happiness. A successful person has a job or a hobby that they can dedicate themselves to that gives them fulfillment. My passion is analyzing and learning about the economy. The economy has patterns it repeats throughout history, and yet at times, it can feel completely unpredictable. I find joy in analyzing and predicting price movements. I believe that I will be successful when I graduate from university and have a successful career as an economic analyst. When that happens, I can look back on my life and be proud of how far I’ve come. Going from humble beginnings to then having the luxury to pursue my passion. That is success. I come from a low-income family, so I’ve seen first-hand how my parents had to learn how to manage money themselves without prior knowledge from their school or their parents. My parents had to learn to budget their money and avoid debt through trial and error. While they’ve taught me all they know about managing money, I’ve noticed how many resources I still lack compared to people my age that come from high-income and higher-middle-class families. I had the opportunity to talk to people from different backgrounds recently at a scholar reception brunch at a university. These people had parents who were doctors and lawyers and were given better financial advice and resources to succeed financially as adults. They were the same age as me and had the same educational goals as me, and yet they had a head start. Fortunately, I have the motivation to learn about personal finance and succeed. When I graduate, I plan to extend my knowledge to low-income communities. If given the right resources, people currently struggling financially can learn proper spending habits and investing. I find it vital that low-income communities get greater attention and more opportunities. People shouldn’t have a disadvantage because of their background. They should have every chance to become successful. One penny can only take a person so far.

In 2003, my parents arrived in the U.S. with very little to support themselves. They started a new life here and would have to learn to financially support themselves and their family. Both of them came from poor families that had very little knowledge of proper financial literacy. My parents struggled their first few years in this country to find work and to be able to afford a place to live and feed themselves. The Great Recession in 2008 impacted them the most as they struggled to find work to support themselves and me at three years old. While the Great Recession proved to be financially devastating for everyone, my parents gained valuable knowledge on financial success which will benefit them in the future, in case of another economic devastation, and me, who can use their experience and advice to best support myself as an adult. The goal is that I won’t fall into the same financial traps. One of the biggest financial traps that many young Americans fall into is the misuse of credit, leading to massive debt that can take years to pay off. My parents have never owned a credit card so the use of credit was never normalized for me. In the future, I will have to learn how to build my credit responsibly, but thankfully I wasn’t brought up to be dependent on credit usage. Another experience that will make me more mindful of my future financial situation is observing how the state of the stock market affects the financial situation of Americans. Referring back to the Great Recession, my parents struggled to find work and afford goods with rising prices, specifically gas crucial for my dad’s occupation. The recession proved to be especially challenging for my parents considering that they had low income and had no savings to fall back on. What my parents learned from 2008 was the impact the collapse of the housing market had in causing the recession. They realized this when they discovered that they could afford a house for about $46,500 (an 80% decrease from the house’s value in 2006). This was a pivotal point for us as we began to pay more attention to how the economic factors can directly affect us and how we can best profit from market fluctuations, which they began to teach me. I was able to experience a short recession in 2020 when the pandemic caused stock market prices to drop significantly. Two years later, I now see how one could’ve bought stock during the price drop in March 2020 and gained a significant profit. I plan to learn how such factors affect market prices now so I can be better prepared as an adult. If I can learn where to invest and when I’ll have better savings in the future 30 or more years from now. My goal is to try to avoid taking out loans to buy a car or a house which will leave me paying off debt for years. I want to continue building on the knowledge I currently strive to be a successful investor and knowledgeable in the stock market. I am currently taking action by using my summer vacation to research. I currently learning how to read price charts and researching companies in the stock market. If I continue learning now I will be financially secure in adulthood. My family has long been stuck struggling with low income, and I hope that with my current experiences and resources in the U.S. I can break the pattern and be more financially successful than my relatives were.