Growing up, my mom used to tell me, “a jack of all trades is a master of none,” whenever I found myself pulled in too many directions. For a while, I took that as a sign to narrow in — to pick one thing and master it before exploring anything else. But later, I heard the rest: “…but oftentimes better than a master of one.” That shift changed everything. Instead of limiting what I was interested in, I started paying attention to how things connect.

That mindset is how I approach finance, economics, and most things in life now. I’m currently studying Finance and Economics at NC State, where I focus on understanding how systems actually behave — not just how they’re supposed to. I’ve spent time inside real financial systems, from digging into a $20B variance at Bank of America to working across data and real estate finance, and one thing has stuck with me: outcomes are rarely driven by one big decision. They’re built from small moments, small choices, stacking into something larger — a cascade of events, all starting with a single step.