Starting Education Anonymous

In a strong, confident voice, I began: “I would like everyone to close their eyes and imagine the stress and frustration you have experienced with fake news.” This was the opening of my team’s presentation to a group of venture capitalists judging the finalized business plans created in our summer program. Over the next 15 minutes our all-student team would walk through our business plan for a simulated company that provides a service to flag and filter fake news.

As the son of a mother in finance and a father in consulting, I found it natural that, early on, I would be intrigued with the world of business as well. On my own, I read books such as Guide to Understanding Money and Investing or Go It Alone! Through family discussions and my independent investigations, I developed a fascination and preliminary understanding of the business field, which I admired for its interdisciplinary and challenging aspects: grounded in principles of math, humanities, social sciences, sciences, technology and requiring creativity, logic, and innovation. In the summer before senior year, since my high school is understandably focused on traditional academics and has limited vocationally-oriented courses, I applied to the Berkeley...