Homeless, Broke and Made it into IB at a Bulge Bracket

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Member @BigTuna5 shares his heart-wrenching but inspirational story. As an immigrant moving out of a mud house with uneducated parents and only a strong work-ethic to his name, hear what kept him going after countless setbacks for him, his two siblings and his parents. From sleeping in a van with his family to befriending a janitor that would let his family sleep in the school gymnasium, nothing came easy. Listen to find out how it all turned out and where he found motivation.

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Check out @BigTuna5's recent post here.

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WSO Podcast Transcript:

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:00:04] It. Hello and welcome. I'm Patrick Curtis. Your host and chief monkey, and this is the Wall Street Oasis podcast. Join me! As I talked to some of the community's most successful and inspirational members to gain valuable insight into different career paths and life in general. Let's get to it. In this episode, member Big Tuna Five shares his heart wrenching but inspirational story as an immigrant moving out of a mud house with uneducated parents and only a strong work ethic to his name. Hear what kept him going after countless setbacks for him, his two siblings and his parents from sleeping in a van with his family to befriending a janitor that would let his family sleep in the school gymnasium? Nothing came easy. Listen to find out how it all turned out and where he found his motivation.

BigTuna5: [00:00:54] Enjoy.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:01] You know, my. Big Tuna five, thank you so much for joining the Wall Street Voices podcast.

BigTuna5: [00:01:09] No, thank you for having me, I'm really looking forward to it.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:11] So could you give the listeners just a short background?

BigTuna5: [00:01:16] Yeah, sure. So I'm originally from Pakistan, if you read my post that was the country I was referring to came to the states when I was like five years old. I went to Chicago, lived there for a couple of years and I ended up moving to Michigan. And my upbringing was a little unique. I would say, you know, it wasn't the prettiest, but you know, it came to the states faced a lot of traditional hardships in terms of like, you know, I really just surviving. Both my parents didn't go to high school. I'm a first generation college student. I was actually the first in my family to graduate high school, which is pretty cool. Growing up, really looking around, I just really wanted the best for my family and I

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:56] Yeah, before we even go there. Can you talk to me a little bit about how your parents, why they left Pakistan or how they got over here?

BigTuna5: [00:02:05] Yeah, definitely. So we're in Pakistan, and my parents grew up there, it was unfortunately very like bad situation. We were in this like very tiny village where we didn't have clean water like our houses made out of mud. Literally, it was very, very bad. Yeah. And my father knew a guy here in Chicago very like, you know, a friend of a friend, and he was actually able to apply for my dad's visa. And fortunately, it took a little like 10 years before my dad even got married, and it took 10 years to get that approved. And once you got approved, he was able to bring my, my mom and his kids there only for honesty, just a better opportunity. And he knew he wanted to have his kids to have like a proper education because in Pakistan, the unfortunate truth is you're either very rich or you're very poor. There's no in between. So he knew, like if I was to come to the states, I would have an opportunity to receive a proper education, which is something that he always wanted, but he never had the opportunity to do. And then they came here and it was very hard because so

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:59] They came here and you were five years old at the time when You said

BigTuna5: [00:03:01] correct

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:02] So that you all kind of came over. And what was that like? Do you remember that there's probably some memories back when you were five, I assume, or no?

BigTuna5: [00:03:09] Yeah, I'm not gonna lie to you. That's kind of scary because like, I saw white people for the first time. Yeah, but you never come to O'Hare Airport. I was like, Mom, why did you wait? What's going on? I was crying. I was like, what?

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:21] You're like, Where am I?

BigTuna5: [00:03:22] Yeah, yeah, definitely. So those are some memories. Honestly, I was really young. So like, I didn't like really understand like the hardship my parents were going through at that age, like my parents did the best they could. But, you know, once I turned like, you know, about like 10, I really grew up a little bit became a little more mature and understood, like what my parents were going through in terms of like, you know, working and we talk IP hours a hundred hours a week. My parents are really doing the same thing like, you know, they were washing dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, clean the floors, any odd job my parents could get. And the worst part was like since they were like super uneducated people kind of took advantage of that. And like, you know, if minimum wage like eight dollars, people would pay them like four dollars in cash under the table, which is like, you know, kind of wack. My parents had no choice, so they had to do that, which sucked. But, you know, stuff like that. And like once I saw them working really hard and like went through that pain, I knew, like intrinsically, I wanted to do the best I could, no matter the career to, like, give them the best life I possibly can moving forward.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:19] That's great. So you guys were, like, really tight. Did you have brothers and sisters as well that came over with you?

BigTuna5: [00:04:24] Yeah. So I have an older brother who unfortunately has Down syndrome, and then I have a younger sister who actually a freshman in college right now.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:30] Oh man. So you have an older brother with special needs, and so your parents are like even more stressed out about this because,

BigTuna5: [00:04:37] Yeah, a lot of time. Because like, no, he has like very extreme special needs like, you know, yeah, it was hard to kind of like balance that, you know, taking care of 200 kids, putting food on the table and taking care of a older person. And like, you know, we don't have Medicaid like, you know, needs either. So like, really hard to kind of fix all that. So it was tough, man. So when you come, you know, as the years go by, things got better.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:57] So as you came over and with Visa, you're saying you couldn't get you couldn't get health care. There was no kind of Medicaid or anything like that to help you guys. So would you say in terms of like health care, there is no options for you guys and you came over, it was just too expensive, even just the cheap,

BigTuna5: [00:05:13] The cheaper and it was very expensive. On top of that, like, we didn't really qualify for anything like this, like low income programs. We didn't qualify for any of that.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:20] Why not? Why don't you qualify for that just because you were you had come over on a visa?

BigTuna5: [00:05:26] Yeah, we're here on a visa, we didn't have a green cards yet, and like, right, I'm not gonna lie. There was some racism things because like around the 9-11 times like, you know, stuff like that happened to so you know, Oh man. Unfortunately, yeah.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:37] So, OK, yeah. Tell me a little bit about, uh. So yeah, tell me about how kind of you grew up where you grew up. So, you know, I know you were in Chicago initially were. I assume it wasn't the best living conditions, but I'd love to go into that a little bit and tell me about what it was really like, how things got better and when they got better or how things got worse. At certain times. I'd love to hear a little more.

BigTuna5: [00:06:00] Yeah, definitely. So we were originally in the south side of Chicago, and if you know anything about the south side, it's not that pretty. Yeah. So it was a pretty bad way of living there in a very shitty rundown apartment. What sucked was like it was in a very dangerous area, like there's a lot of gang violence, drug crime and stuff like that, and that was horrible. So like, my parents tried everything they could to kind of get out of the south side and like, move more towards the north, which is like a little nicer. So we ended up getting out of there and went to the north side of Chicago, which is a little better, but it was super expensive. My dad's like, there's no reason to stay in Chicago, so we ended up going to Michigan with much cheaper. And my dad got not a good job. Like he found like a stable job working at a gas station and sort of my mom. So they both started working there and they were able to kind of support us the best they could. And then what happened was someone actually committed fraud with my dad and kind of stole everything he had. My dad was trying to like to save some money and start like his own little business to support the family. And then someone took advantage of them and literally stole all his little assets that he had. So we actually, once things started looking better, actually started getting worse. We ended up losing our home. Unfortunately, we had this Honda Odyssey, so we lived in there for a bit, which sucked because, you know, parents, three kids in a van like, that's not the best living conditions. So we lived there. Actually, a little fun fact. It's kind of a funny story. So like when I was in high school, this is like the time when I lost our home and actually became really good friends with the janitor at my high school. And he would actually leave the backdoor open and my family and I used to sleep in the gymnasium at night, right? And then we used to wake up at 5:30 every day because at six o'clock, like the cheerleaders would come in to practice their games. So we would wake up at five 30 to get out before we could get caught.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:39] Yeah, yeah, at least. Yeah. So that way you'd have a warmer place and stuff like that. I assume you're in Michigan at this point.

BigTuna5: [00:07:46] Yeah, correct.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:48] But did you have to spend a whole winter in the in that situation?

BigTuna5: [00:07:52] Yeah, unfortunately. Luckily, you know, the gender kind of realized the situation and kind of let me in during the wintertime because in winter that would have stuck to living in the van.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:59] Oh my gosh. So yeah, I can't even I mean, it sucks in general. It's just I can't even imagine it that. So, OK, so you're it sounds like you're all still working, but it was your sister kind of chipping in at this point. Or is she too young still?

BigTuna5: [00:08:13] She was very young, unfortunately. So add it to be honest with my parents, and neither did I want her to go through that because like one, you know, she's very young. She's a girl. Like, we didn't want her to like to see that ugly part of life. So we kind of like, made sure like she was like, you know, we had some really good family, friends, she'd stay there most of the time just because, like, you know, it's not good to see someone that young go through that. So, yeah, so OK. So your.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:33] Yeah, go ahead. You're working on the side as well while you're in high school, I assume. Or no, like just.

BigTuna5: [00:08:39] Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So my first job was at this Chinese restaurant, I was working under the table. I was actually like, I think 13 at the time, you legally can't work at 13. So I went to the Chinese place, right? And I was washing dishes. That was my first job. He was paying me like, like four dollars an hour or something way below minimum wage. The only job I could get under the table that did that, and then my second official job was actually at McDonald's. I was cleaning the bathrooms, which sucked. Never do that. Oh yeah, I did that for a couple of years, and then I worked at some other odd jobs here and there just to support the family the best I could. And I started like, you know, I got really tech savvy. So like, I really would like go to like what's called goodwill. And these, like, you know, their shops, I would find like brand name items, I would sell them online for a profit. So that was like kind of help our family out, which is kind of like pretty cool back in the day.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:25] Yeah, that's amazing. You're doing that back in what, early 2000s?

BigTuna5: [00:09:29] No, it's like in high school.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:31] Oh, this is like. So what was that? What year?

BigTuna5: [00:09:33] Approximately like 2013 20?

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:37] Ok, so yeah, so you were kind of starting to do some flipping and stuff like that and going to good will. So what were you bringing in, you think from that each week?

BigTuna5: [00:09:47] Yeah, so I was like, I remember like copying like Ralph Lauren and stuff like that, I was probably bringing in like. And a good one, probably like, you know, maybe a hundred two hundred dollars a week, which is pretty cool. Yeah. And then like if things weren't really popping off, maybe like $50 dollars. But you know, to be honest, like every penny counted at that point, it's like it really didn't matter. Anything helped.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:04] So you're at a public high school, I assume, in in Michigan somewhere, right? And you're struggling, you're doing well. What's going on with that while you're kind of like having all this crap going on at home?

BigTuna5: [00:10:19] That's crazy. Yeah. So what sucked about my high school was it was actually very, very nice. Like, everyone at that place was super rich, like crazy rich. Like everyone came from like, you know, Ivy League parents and, you know, doctors, lawyers, engineers and all that stuff. Absolutely. Probably that one. By the way. So I was like the darkest skinned person there. Everyone else was white and I was broke. So that sucked. But anything that kind of like made me more motivated. Like, to be honest, I did very, very well in high school. My GPA was like a four or five out of four oh killed. The act was a part of like the present debate club, Brown's club, all the business clubs, everything. I played tennis on varsity. I did all the stuff where I didn't make any excuse because I knew if I did well in high school, I could have an opportunity to go to this college.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:56] And how did you know that? How did you even know that? How did you even know that coming your parents, your parents kind of knew like, OK, education's important for us to get out of this cycle, right? And they got you. They got over the states, which was obviously probably the biggest jump. Right? But then you had this intrinsic motivation. You wanted to. You knew that your parents were suffering and didn't have that education. But kind of what gave you that? How did you even know that, hey, such a young age, you feel like you grew up really fast and you're like, Hey, I know I have to do really well to get into a good college? Or how did you know that?

BigTuna5: [00:11:31] Yeah, so, you know, I just think, you know, when I moved to Michigan, like I said, the place I was living in my place was very bad, but everyone else was like super wealthy and all my friends at the time very, very wealthy now see their wealth. I would see their parents and all the success they've like had. These guys are not suffering at all. I kind of want this, you know, tell my parents as well. It's like I saw that as motivation. Just the things around me, really, because like in Michigan, everything was like crazy wealthy, like really luxury everywhere. And I was like, Wow, I really want this lifestyle. And like, you know, as I was talking to these, like older people, they became my mentors, their parents, and they told me and we went to this school, we did this, we did that, and I was like, Wow. And some my best friend, actually. At the time, he he was very wealthy, but his parents actually grew up really, really poor and similar to my story. Actually, they were immigrants as well, and they worked really hard and they told me this story like, you know, we were first generation. We did this, we did that. Now we're doctors, we have X amount of money, which is pretty cool. So I use those things as like motivation to like, inspire myself and my family to, like, do the best I could, which is why I work really hard in high school. But I knew like looking at these people, like if I did really well, I would have an opportunity to be successful.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:33] That's great. So you kind of you. You were in the right area. How do your parents even afford to be in that area? Like where you going in that high school? Was it like zoned a certain way?

BigTuna5: [00:12:45] Yes, like the thing about Michigan is it's super cheap, especially the place we're living, it's like really one of the cheapest places in America, but it's one of the nicest places in America too, because there's like these two big companies there and everyone just kind of works there. And it's like, it's like a very big hospital scene for doctors and whatnot, as well as so like, it was just very affordable for us, especially the apartment we were living in. So and it was very nice. It's one of the best of both worlds.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:04] I mean, because you think about it like being at that high school surrounded by that wealth and by those parents and by getting those mentors, there's probably just so, such a dramatic impact on you. Just you were already motivated, but just motivating you even more. And then plus that kind of that mentorship of like, do these, you know, make these steps, I would assume, as was helpful.

BigTuna5: [00:13:23] Definitely, no doubt.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:24] So, OK, so cool, so you're like kicking major ass, like high school, you're like top of the class, right? So are people noticing or is there kind of like, do you have a reputation? Are people like, oh, this guy's a nerd? Or are you like popular? Are you? What's the deal there? Or are people like, Oh, no, he's poor. Like, are you? Is there some racism going on? What's what happened there?

BigTuna5: [00:13:46] Yeah, definitely a little bit of everything, so for me, I hate getting pity on everyone, I hate when people look at me and say, Oh, you're poor, what are you doing? It's like if you're willing to work hard and you're grinding, that shouldn't matter at all. Right. And when I was in high school, I kicked ass to be honest. I worked my ass off to do the best I could, and people didn't notice, right? And a lot of people who were very wealthy made fun of me because they're like, Oh, this guy has nothing. How's he doing so well? And then he had the other half, like a lot of guys, you know, really working his ass off, that's pretty cool. So I just made myself stand out the best I could. I was actually somewhat popular. I would say I have some really good friends. At the time, I did some varsity tennis, you know, debate forensics. I was doing really well. No one called me a nerd really like, I just kind of put myself in the best position I could.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:26] It's OK. I was. I was a nerd, so it's fine.

BigTuna5: [00:14:30] Yeah, I don't think it's anything bad about it. It's the good thing.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:32] Yeah, yeah. So cool. So you while you're doing really well, so then what happens now in terms of your next steps, like it sounds like you were very kind of mature for your age, you were doing really well. So when did you start thinking about like college and all of that stuff?

BigTuna5: [00:14:50] Yeah, so I started thinking about college when I was a sophomore in high school. That's when I took my act and thankfully I did really, really well in the city and then my grades were really good. The teachers liked me. I knew I had like stellar recommendations and I'm not trying to flex or anything like I knew I would have gone to a very, very good college. Right. In terms of career, I wanted to be a doctor originally for two main reasons. One, like everyone around me, was all doctors. So I kind of saw that and to I really wanted money straight up. So I knew that was the field that would guarantee me a job. It would ensure, like a lot of wealth and security for my family and I. Yeah, so I made the decision early on that, Hey, you know, this is what I want to do. And so I was essentially looking for schools, really my sophomore year that had drug med programs. So which is like, you know, you go to school and they directly send you to med school at that school, which is very difficult, but I knew I had a good shot. Yeah. And so my focus was not business at all and not the banking or finance related. I did not care about that stuff. I didn't even know about it, to be honest. Yeah. So my focus was medicine. And as I was kind of going through the process, I applied to literally every direct med program out there. I was very fortunate up to get into various programs, really good programs, actually, and I chose this one school because they gave me a full ride scholarship. And at that point, it was a no brainer. Like, dude, like, I don't have like one dollar to my name and writing a check for like 100 hundred grand like, it's a no brainer. Yeah, of course. So I went to that school and it was a direct med program. So essentially, as long as I met the bare minimum requirements, I would be accepted into their medical school. So it just made sense. Yeah, yeah. So that's how I decided to pick that school.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:20] So you went to this school year, so you graduated high school. It's a big deal. You know, you're the first person in your family to graduate high school. So that's like got to be really exciting for your family. I assume that was you felt amazing.

BigTuna5: [00:16:34] Oh yeah, that was really cool.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:35] And then so you get to college and tell me, like, what changed what you started going there and you started learning about banking or finance? How did that ever even come about? You seem so focused on pre-med.

BigTuna5: [00:16:51] Yeah, so when I was in the strike, my program like my whole again, I didn't know anything about banking until probably like a year and a half in until college. So my first year and a half, I was just doing pre-med stuff, biochemistry and whatnot. I'm not going to lie. I did really, really well, too, from academic perspective and like, you know, actually understanding the concepts and then but to be honest, I found it really, really boring. It was super annoying to me. I didn't like anything I was learning. And the worst part was I was like, I'll suck it up. I didn't really care. At that point. I was like, you know, whatever, I'll suck it up. But then looking at long term, like, dude, like first four years of college, four years in medical school residency fellowship, I wanted to be a surgeon as well as like all that in and plus the medical school debt, like only undergrad, was free, not the medical school component that was like probably at least 500k with interest. And like all the stuff I would like, I would not see a pay check until like I did the math until, like forty one. I was like, what? I can't wait that long, right? It's like, you know, my family's going through a lot even when I'm in college. And so a year and a half in, I'm still kind of contemplating because, to be honest, I don't know what to do because I was very fortunate to be in the direct med program. And it would it would be pretty stupid to kind of leave that program because like, it takes a lot to get into that right. And then my buddy, actually, he's in Chicago. He got a job at Barclays doing banking, and I don't know what banking was. He just told me, Hey, I got a job at bank and I was like, What do you mean? You're a teller now? I'm like, Oh, cool, what is that? Yeah, kind of explained. I was like, Oh, sick. Like, how much are you making it? Yeah, bro. I made 150 my first year. I was like, No way, no way. I was like, what? My mind blew up. I was like, No way. So he was the first one to tell me what investment banking was, and I was like, this is probably the best thing for me at this point. So I did my research and I knew like, you know, there were certain things, unfortunately, in terms of the target school and like, you know, stuff like that, networking and whatnot, I didn't know what that stuff was at that point. Yeah. So towards the end, I assume

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:18:40] That's around when you stumbled on Wall Street Oasis at some point around. Yeah, exactly.

BigTuna5: [00:18:44] Yeah. This is pretty cool. All my research and I towards the end of my sophomore year, I ended up transferring to a target school and which wasn't too hard in terms of transferring, but like getting to a school was tough because if you read the article like. This school is filled with like very, very wealthy people and like everyone had connections, and I felt like I felt really irrelevant at that point. But again, you know, going through all this stuff, I don't want to give up or anything. So I get to this new school. Very, very cool environment. Never seen anything like it. And at that point, you started working really hard. It was tough, though, because now what do you

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:19:20] Mean by cool environment? What do you mean by cool environment? Like never seen anything like the campus or something, or just the just the finance?

BigTuna5: [00:19:26] The campus was huge, just like the people I was surrounded by. Like you just saw people from all walks of life who people do medicine, engineering, you know, banking. I was like, Wow, this is super crazy. I met some really cool people as well as like, I never heard of these types before, so it was like, really interesting. I never saw that before in my life. You know, I was like, I was just so diverse and interesting. Yeah, and this is the first time I'm actually away from home. So this college is three hours away from my home. Wow. This is like I'm not living my parents anymore, which is kind of scary at that point because usually I was the one to take care of my parents. So that was tough. The first year was good from an academic perspective, but it wasn't good in terms of like other things like my parents are really sick, so I have to kind of like skip school once in a while to visit them. I was doing three part time jobs from my college, actually matched my scholarship, so I wasn't paying anything for like school, but like I was working three jobs to support my family back home to put food on the table.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:20:15] What about like dorm costs and food and all that stuff? Do they?

BigTuna5: [00:20:19] That was awfully

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:20:20] Nice.

BigTuna5: [00:20:21] Nice good food. And yeah, so first year goes by. I didn't get any like, you know, big off or anything. I was able to secure a investment banking internship in Europe, which I'm currently doing, and I'm very fortunate. Nothing bad about it. It's actually a very good opportunity for me. And just because like at that point, I didn't take any business classes, I was the only thing I knew was like, you know, chemistry and bio. So like, I didn't understand networking. I just kind of cold applied. And to be honest, I had a fluoro so I just kind of sent applications in and like, if I got an interview, I got an interview. So I was able to land this internship and

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:20:54] This is after your sophomore year or this is this is going on right now.

BigTuna5: [00:20:57] You're saying this is this is going on right now.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:20:59] Yeah, yeah. So you're busting your ass right now?

BigTuna5: [00:21:03] Yeah, I'm a week, so I hope my magic doesn't come in. But yeah, I do that. So I'm here right now. As I got to New York, I really kind of understood more about like what investment banking is and like what networking is, because two guys I really didn't know, like it was just, I was like, Oh, I just send an application and normally kind of taught me this stuff. I was kind of on my own and Wall Street definitely help. You guys definitely help me out your posts and whatnot. So coming here, you know, I started really networking, grinding, understanding the technical and whatnot. I was fortunate enough to receive some super days, specifically out of which bracket and the post. Thankfully, it went really well and I was able to secure that offer.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:21:40] So it's amazing, man. So that was that was recent, right? And so that's for a full time gig when you graduate.

BigTuna5: [00:21:46] No, it's a summer anticipation for next

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:21:48] Year, for next year, but that's like, that's teen you up. Basically, if you do really well and you grind hard, you're going to be you're going to be getting that full time offer basically because the conversion rate is pretty good there. Yeah. So yeah, don't count your eggs before they hatch, right? You got to stick on a bus, you still got a bus your ass. But that's amazing, man. That's got to feel so good.

BigTuna5: [00:22:09] Yeah, it does, man. It was so fun. It's like I'm in the Times Square area. So like, I got the call and I literally ran out. I was crying in Times Square was like millions of people watching me. I was talking about parents like, we’re just having a good time, you know, it's one of the best moments of my life.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:22:23] So that's so amazing. So, yeah, anything you think, you know, looking back and I'd love to do another podcast with you in a couple of years, once you kind of had a few years, see what you're what you're going to do and where you're going next, because I think your story's extremely inspirational just in terms of where you came from, how hard you work to get, not only just the full ride. So you could you could be in those situations, but just the fact that you had so many other things going on and you still were able to kind of sacrifice academically. I mean, obviously, you had some natural intelligence to be able to handle that workload and do it successfully. But you know, obviously you're busted your ass in high school and in college. So when you so. Correct me. If so, this is a sophomore. You literally had a sophomore internship and now you've already done recruiting for junior summer and you're in the right. Yeah, it's just so crazy, so accelerated now. And so is there a reason for that? Was it like, can you tell me a little bit about that process of how that worked? Because you said you just applied like you sent out your you had high GPA to land a sophomore internship? I still know that's really tough or you need some sort of accelerated program. Where were you in sort of kind of diversity program like an SEO of sorts? Or how did that? How did that work out?

BigTuna5: [00:23:37] Yeah, definitely. So unfortunately, I didn't qualify for any of the diversity applications, so I wasn't an SEO and whatnot, but this internship I'm at right now, this is actually not like a sophomore internship, it's actually a formal junior year internship. Got it. So when I applied, I didn't know it was, you know, I didn't really know at that point. I just applied and I got the offer and they're like, Oh, you know, when they do the background check, they're like, Hey, are you a rising junior? I'm like, oh, no, I'm a sophomore right now. They're like, what? So but at that point, you know, they really liked me, and they don't want to like, you know, just kind of cancel the offer. This is like, you know, may I put my deposit down for the NYU dorms and whatnot, right? So they're able to accommodate. So I'm like the youngest person at the firm right now. Everyone else is going to be a rising senior competing for a full time offer. I'm just a sophomore here.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:18] And do you feel like your story resonated? I mean, those interviews to get that internship? Can you tell me a little bit with that process? Like, was it on campus? Was it? Did you have to go into New York, into New York or into I mean, where were you doing it?

BigTuna5: [00:24:33] Yeah. So for this specific sophomore one that I'm at right now, I there was on campus interview and then there was a Super Day in New York. And to be honest, when I do my interviews, I think I read through your post. I think the best if I can give any advice to anyone right there, it's like, make sure you have a great story. And I think when I talk to people my interviews, it's an authentic reason to why I want to do banking and why I want to get into this industry. And it kind of relates well. I think people really appreciate the hustle and grind because compared to some rich guy that's going to be interviewing. They know intrinsically that a guy that's a first generation college student who went through a lot of shit, like he's going to be really grinding because he has to, not because he wants to, you know, I mean. So I think people see that they respect it. You know, when I network, I tell people my story. They're like, we want you here because we know compared to some Ivy League kid, you're actually going to kick ass.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:25:18] Yeah. And so tell me about tell me about specifically like did when they asked, you like, why do you want to do banking? Were you like more forthcoming? You were like the money where you just like straight up because I know people like joke. Don't say that. But were you in maybe it, maybe in a nicer way? Kind of saying that, like about helping your family? Was that kind of your answer there?

BigTuna5: [00:25:36] Yeah, a little bit of everything. So I, of course, have like, you know, the traditional reason, you know, that really to kind of give us more interest in banking for X, Y and Z or whatever. And then once I get close with the guy and like, I understand that he kind of likes me, revive and really well and I get pretty personal. I open up on my K, you know, I went to this and what's that? And then he's like. And then he kind of brings up like, Oh, you know, you make this amount of money or whatever. And at that point, they kind of understand like why this kid wants what he wants, and they think it's a fair reason for why he wants to go into the industry. So really, you just kind of getting a feel for that person if we're vibing? Well, I really kind of go more deep with my situation and kind of tell them, you open up a little bit. Yeah, kind of goes from there.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:26:13] Yeah, you don't like spill it out on the table right away. I mean, that's that's interesting, though, and it's interesting how you went about that. You weren't just like throwing that out there to try and like, get pity, you know what I mean? It was like, you kind of went about it and you did the interviews as more like a standard way. But if you felt like, like you said you were vibing with the actual interview, you could open up a little bit more and really kind of get them to kind of understand where you're coming from. From, like how about how bad it was?

BigTuna5: [00:26:40] And when I do these interviews, like I say, I hate when people take me. I don't want an offer or an opportunity because someone feels bad for me. I want the opportunity because they know like I worked for that I have the good grades. I have the yeah, I mean, you have. That's that. I don't want just to give me something because if you're bad, you know, totally, man.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:26:53] No, I hear you. There's been no handouts for you. So all in all I know is like, you kicked ass since you got here. So congrats on all the success, man. It's super exciting. And thanks for sharing your story. Anything you'd want to tell the listeners specifically around or some advice you'd give to your younger self. Looking back, even though you're super young, still?

BigTuna5: [00:27:19] Yeah, I feel for myself. If I were to go back, I would just kind of tell myself not to give up because there were some points where I felt really depressed and sad and that I didn't want to work harder. And I just kind of go back and say, Hey, you know, keep your head up. Things will get better. Just keep on doing what you're doing. And because I never like, told my parents how I felt, because, you know, in all honesty, I felt really bad and sad. I'm not going to lie. Obviously, when you got in that situation, I never told my parents that because obviously, like, they're already going through tough shit. There's no reason for me to kind of place more of a burden on their head. So just going back and saying, hey, just stay positive, stay calm and cool. And like, you know, ultimately things will fall in place. And then for anyone out there, that's listening, like, I'm sure people have gone through even worse than I have and or who are just going through difficult times in general. Like it sounds super cliche, but really like just keep on working at it. If it's meant to be and like you really want it, you're putting in the grind, it will fall in place. I firmly believe that because trust me, like a guy that was homeless and immigrant, I couldn't speak the language like both parents are very uneducated, like if I can do it in all honesty, like anyone else can do it. I'm not trying to say I'm very smart, you know, like intelligent. I just worked really hard for that, whether it was in school or during an interview. So just keep on grinding and like, you know, as long as you know, you stay positive. And I think the biggest thing I always tell people is have a reason for something. Like, for me, it was always just to take care of my family. That was my reason for a job or. Making X amount of money. So for anyone out there, have a reason for what you want to do, whether that's banking or engineering or whatever. Know why you really want to do that. If it's for the money, that's completely fine. But is there anything else as well? And then, you know, if you find that reasoning, I definitely think you'll do fine.

Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:28:50] Yeah, kind of. Has that guiding drive behind it, that North Star that can kind of. You can always point to that. The reason you're doing what you're doing, the reason you're suffering, the reason you're staying up late studying for that exam, right? Yeah. Yeah, I can. Definitely. It can definitely help you push through in the hardest times and kind of really buckle down when there's so many distractions out there to nowadays to be productive. But yeah, man, thank you so much. And thanks to you, my listeners at Wall Street Oasis. If you have any suggestions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to send them my way. Patrick at Wall Street Oasis dot com and till next time.