Seeking financial prosperity and future investors, Diamond Bar High School’s Young Investors Society (YIS) participated in the Dollar-A-Day scholarship, honoring five senior recipients: Ryan Giang, Lucas Hong, Jack Lin, Felix Peng and Derrick Popeney.
Applicants were required to submit an essay regarding what they want their financial life to look like in ten years. After going through a short application process, the winners were then selected based on their demonstrated investment in the stock market.
“I wrote about how I would like my financial life to be stable enough where I can support my parent’s lifelong dream of traveling the world since they came from humble beginnings in Vietnam,” Giang said. “After all the struggle and sacrifice they went through for me, I want to return the favor by granting them their dream.”
Peng, who founded the club, likes YIS because it strives to encourage the students to be smart with their money, teaching members how to invest, save and understand how money flows through the economy.
“Investing shouldn’t be something limited to professionals in Wall Street or gambling addicts;everyone should be financially free and be able to do what they’re passionate about without worrying about the money aspect,” Peng said.
Many of the scholarship recipients plan to invest throughout their life, and even expand upon their knowledge in college.
“I hope to get into finance or economics in college, so having this background information about stocks will be beneficial to me,” Lin said.
Based on the feedback of current members, the organization has improved the financial literacy of the youth involved in the opportunity, as well as showcased the process of investing.
“The club itself taught me a lot about being responsible,” Popeney said. “The investing rules of doing your research and being patient are generally good things to do in everyday life so they have been helpful skills.”
Furthermore, the scholarship allowed opportunity for the students since a number of people who participated ended up winning money.
“I felt super elated when I got the scholarship,” Giang said. “It was the first scholarship I ever gotten so it was definitely a memorable experience. I was also happy for my fellow club members since a lot of them also got the scholarship.”
The Dollar-a-Day scholarship is but one of the multitude of other opportunities the club provides. They also have a stock pitch competition where students pitch stocks to a panel of judges. The winners win paid internships, cash prizes and more.
“Starting the club has also definitely trained me to become a better leader,” Peng said. “Knowing the power of compound interest and taking advantage of it by starting early, will definitely keep future me in good hands.”
