...and Singapore, Japan, California, Washington, and New York. Brian has lived all over the world and hopes to instill global awareness in the younger generation through interactive investment simulations.
Traveling my whole life has allowed me to understand perspectives more. You get to see different things in different cultures. A person may interpret something differently than you depending on their background or culture, so I’ve had great exposure to that. However, traveling so much can lead to identity issues. It’s hard, especially when you live by yourself, but it toughens you up. You mature faster than other people your age.
I would never go back and change things. The way I am today is because of what things happened to me. I could have gotten an ideal result if I could change things in my past, but I would have missed out on so much that has shaped me.
What’s interesting about EXPLO is that there are people from all over the world who are so interesting to interact with. I especially love hearing all the different accents! Being here reminds me of that exposure in my youth to people from all across the world. What I see in the educational world right now is very different than the practical world. Students, however, are being encouraged to do well in both realms.
When I was studying finance, it was very dry material, which can easily get boring. But what I really enjoyed was the projects, independent thinking, and interacting with others trying to understand what they’re talking about or worried about. What I’m trying to bring to my classroom is to be more practical and bring more experience to it with real life examples instead of theories. Through games and simulations, I hope to mimic real world consequences and rewards to help students bring meaning to investment
It’s hard to do well in school and in the real world, but it can be easier by tailoring courses to focus less on theory and more on practical application. It’s all about perspective.
Sabrina Polin