I was still working for myself as a trader at the end of last year when I decided to move down to Miami with one of my best friends from college. Having spent years in California and then New York, this seemed like the perfect place for me to go next. I’ve had a wonderful year in the city and, especially after moving around so much in the past few years, I think I’ve found a great place to stay put. Since the spring I’ve been working as an Investment Data Analyst for the global wealth and asset management firm, AlTi Global. After spending the last two years in the cryptocurrency space, I thought it’d be a great decision to take a job in traditional finance. Our firm has a large number of clients with portfolios invested in an array of private equity funds. My responsibility is to analyze the data held on the capital flows into and out of these funds over the last decade and calculate the performance of each of our client’s portfolios. I was hired as a contractor and the original scope of the project was set to just be a few months, but it’s been going very well and the firm has continued to expand the scale of the work they want me to complete. I’ve really loved my time there and have a wonderful group of coworkers. Outside of my work in the office, I’ve begun working with one of my friends from college that started his own real estate investment firm. We live together here in Miami, so it’s a wonderful experience learning about a new industry and working on an exciting entrepreneurial venture with one of my good friends. I’m very excited for the year ahead!
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
A lot has taken place over the course of the last year! As you can imagine if you’ve seen some of the recent news, the cryptocurrency space has undoubtedly been going through some turbulent times. Unfortunately, the hedge fund I was working at was not unscathed and ended up letting go of their employees over the summer (myself included). I decided to take some time to work for myself and build my background rather than immediately apply for new positions. I took a number of online courses over the summer in areas ranging from decentralized finance to programming and financial modeling. As I’ve built experience as a trader since the summer of 2016, I’ve been trading for myself these last few months as my primary income. The skills I built at the hedge fund working on algorithmic trading have given me a great set of tools that I’ve been utilizing to be successful with this. I’ve also begun taking consulting calls with the firm AlphaSights, providing insight for firms looking to get into the blockchain space. Having been through the last bear market that started roughly five years ago, this is all market behavior I’m used to and I’m still highly confident in the potential for blockchain technology in the years to come. I fully plan on continuing to build a career in the space and am working on an exciting entrepreneurial venture with a couple of my colleagues. However, it’s great to know that I always have the option of continuing my work in eCommerce as well. I’m still figuring out my path, but with hard work I’m sure that all will work out!
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
I’ve had a lot of exciting times in the last year! My work is totally remote so I moved to NYC mainly for the adventure. I’ve been meeting lots of new people and having a ton of fun. Work has been going great! Our hedge fund (Stoic Strategies LLC) has been making great strides and I just finished up my first year. I’ve stayed working developing trading algorithms, but my job is very dynamic. I just got promoted to DeFi Fund Manager (decentralized finance) which I’m super happy about and is something I’ve been working on for many months. Basically blockchain technology is allowing us to create high yield savings accounts for our clients and I’m developing/operating the portfolio. I love it so much I’m hoping this is the last job I ever have! I’ve also been waking up really early each morning to take blockchain/finance classes and improve my trading. I’ve also been having a great time in the city, so not just work:) So a lot of positivity and productivity in the last year. Very happy and doing very well! Thank you so much for making this all possible! My picture is from the Bitcoin Miami conference that my boss sent me on which was a ton of fun.
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
It’s certainly been quite the crazy year, but I’m extremely grateful for the good fortune that I’ve had. A few months ago, Walmart eCommerce decided to close down the office in San Francisco and get rid of most positions within the company. I had the option of pursuing a new role at their office in Bentonville, Arkansas, but I decided it was best for me to look for other opportunities back in Los Angeles where I went to school. I’m now living with one of my best friends from college and I couldn’t be happier. On top of that, I ended up landing a dream job that I’ve been working at for a few weeks now. I’m working at a hedge fund, Stoic Strategies, which deals with the emerging cryptocurrency/blockchain industry. My position is as the Strategy Developer. I develop rule-based strategies for the fund to trade off of, as well as strategies for our software engineers to build automated trading algorithms for. I’m a few weeks in now, and I’m absolutely loving it. It’s very challenging work, but it could not be more interesting and engaging. I’ve been involved in the blockchain space for about three years now and have been learning about trading for over four, so I couldn’t imagine a job that I’d be happier doing and would be a better use of my skills and knowledge. I got to take on a lot of responsibility during my time at Walmart and got excellent experience, but I know that this job is going to turn out even better! Thank you so much for making this dream come true; without MV Youth I never would have had this chance!
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
It blows my mind to say that I’ve made it through my college years and am now a graduate, working in San Francisco. However, I couldn’t be more happy and grateful to be in the position that I’m in today. After making it through a scary period of time before heading into my final school year, I set my sights on making the most of my good fortune, working throughout the year on job applications and interviews. I’m extremely happy to say that I’ve ended up in a tremendous situation, taking a job for Walmart eCommerce this past spring. Working as a Category Specialist, I’ve been given the chance to manage a multi-million dollar business, being put in charge of selling wheels and rims on Walmart.com. Having aspects of finance, marketing, management, and more, this entrepreneurial job has given me the chance to garner experience in a diverse array of areas. Not only is my role an excellent learning experience, but it’s one that I genuinely enjoy. Working with a group of recent college graduates like myself, the office environment is fun and engaging, and one that I look forward to each day. I’m unbelievably excited for where my career will take me in the future, and I couldn’t be more happy with the start that it’s already gotten off to. It’s quite an objective statement to say that without MVYouth’s support I would not be in the wonderful situation I’m in today. Thank you so much for giving me the greatest opportunity of my entire life. I truly hope one day to be able to have such an impact on another kid’s future!
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
I’m not even two months into my senior year, yet college feels like it’s already reached its conclusion. But despite how this may read, I say it with no sadness at all. Scouring for jobs, filling out applications, and getting interviews lined up is certainly a bit of work, but it makes me tremendously excited for my future and the possibilities that could lie ahead. I am an exceptionally fortunate individual that’s determined to make proud the people that brought me to this point and be able to one day give back myself.
I decided to pursue a major in political science at the beginning of my freshman year with the intent of going to law school. However, after spending the last few years developing a passion for trading the markets and holding a wonderful internship at Merrill Lynch, a career in finance is what I know I’ll thrive in. As I love research and problem solving, I believe I would do very well in a financial analyst or research position.
Because of the wonderful friendships I’ve made and excellent medical care I’ve received, finding work in Los Angeles would be ideal. But I’ve actually applied to firms across many areas, such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and even in other countries. To make myself as qualified a candidate as possible, I’ve also signed up for the Chartered Financial Analyst program and will be studying to pass the level one exam this upcoming June. It will certainly be a large undertaking on top of managing classes and a spring internship, but it will build a vital knowledge base that complements the unique skills I developed from my liberal arts education that will allow me to excel in the financial world.
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
I’m more than halfway done with college! Never have two years of my life flown by so quickly. Despite my many wonderful experiences making the time feel shockingly short, I’m thrilled to think I’ll have a degree from UCLA in just a year and a half. Being an upperclassman, I am able to choose classes from a diverse array of topics in political science that are directly related to current global issues. Classes examining the international politics surrounding nuclear theory and analyzing the international relations of China kept me thoroughly engaged this year. Even better will be next quarter as I begin studying for the entrepreneurship minor. Taking courses such as Marketing Principles for Entrepreneurs and Technological Commercialization makes me actually look forward to the hours of schoolwork ahead. As far as the road beyond UCLA, I’m genuinely interested in going into politics, I’m prepping for the LSAT, and I also have a passion for trading futures so I may not be fully decided, but it’s certainly not due to a lack of interest or options. I’m excited and grateful for each and every avenue MVYouth has made possible for me to pursue through their amazing efforts and generosity.
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
What a tremendous year it’s been for me here in Los Angeles. It’s impossible to detail all of the virtues of this amazing journey - a journey that I never would have gotten to experience had it not been for the efforts and generosity of MVYouth. I’ve just recently wrapped up fall quarter for my second time. Although living in my fraternity and taking an extra class made for a busy few months, I managed to tackle each one while also waking up at six in the morning or earlier on a regular basis to trade on the stock market. I may just be in my second year, but I’m already sad thinking that I’m a third of the way through my time here. In little over a year I’ve formed lifelong friendships, studied with world class professors, and grown astoundingly in capability and self reliance. Looking back on life altering experiences, there is nothing more wonderful to happen to me than receiving this support from MVYouth. Thank you!
Charles Parkhurst - UCLA
UCLA really is the dream school that I imagined it to be. Traveling three thousand miles from home into the college world has been my greatest step yet towards true adulthood. Now, only a few months in, I have already had so many amazing experiences. Studying with world class professors, pledging the fraternity of Beta Theta Pi, and learning to live and manage all my responsibilities has already been quite the exciting journey. The rigorous academic workload and competition, made more difficult by some of my own medical complications, has been stressful and formidable at times, but has been a great success so far. The challenge is motivating and rewarding. I’m extremely excited for the future and immensely grateful for the opportunity that MVYouth has given me to spend the next four years at such an astounding institution.