Finance, Like Fencing, Is About Finding Your Opening

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Somewhere along the way, I learned that if you keep training, your moment will come.

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I grew up in a small county town in Zhejiang. Back then, my education revolved almost entirely around exams — no one talked about career planning or how to navigate relationships with people.

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That's why moving to Los Angeles for high school felt so jarring. For the first time, I saw how completely different two education systems can be — the resources, the way people think, the entire structure of opportunity. Honestly, I struggled to adapt to nearly every part of life in the U.S. at first.

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Language was just the first hurdle: I couldn't follow lectures, and I fell behind in group discussions. The bigger problem was that I had no idea how to connect with people socially. What I remember most vividly is PE class — everyone naturally split into groups and started chatting, and I just stood on the outside, unable to find my way in. I felt like an island. In those moments, I wondered whether I would ever figure out how this place worked.

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Then I joined the school's fencing team, and things slowly began to turn around. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made after arriving in the U.S.

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Fencing has clear structure, clear rules, and immediate feedback — when you perform well, you get recognized for it. The sport also taught me how to manage my mindset. There are so many rounds, and every one brings a high or a low; failure and setbacks are simply part of the game. I learned to build consistency and grit through all of it.

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Through countless practices and bouts, I went from being a nobody on the team to someone at its center. For the first time, I truly understood what it meant to "find your place." That experience shaped how I approach unfamiliar environments to this day: learn the rules first, then find your opening.

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I thought to myself: finance is a lot like fencing. I'm drawn to environments with clear rules, and I'm confident I can find my place there.

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Charting My Own Course Through a Vast Industry

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I'd actually wanted to work in finance for as long as I can remember. My parents always followed the stock market and the macro economy, so I grew up learning to read market moves on my own. I genuinely love analyzing market trends — why does this company deserve this valuation? Why is the market reacting this way at this moment?

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I've always had a natural sensitivity to numbers and analysis, so this path felt inevitable.

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Before college even started, I already had a real sense of the recruiting game — I didn't want to fall behind, and I wanted to network with older students and learn from their experience. So I started researching club applications on my own, and I eventually landed a spot.

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Looking back now, though, my exposure was pretty limited back then. When club interviews threw tricky professional questions at me, I was honestly intimidated. If I'd had a mentor guiding me at the time, I could have handled it with a lot more confidence.

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My freshman-year finance club was where I first got exposed to career paths like investment banking, hedge funds, and equity research. It made me realize just how vast the finance world is — and got me thinking about which paths I wanted to explore and what I really wanted to do with my career.

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So I kept figuring things out on my own: I lined up a few stepping-stone internships, gained hands-on recruiting experience, and developed a clear picture of my weak spots. Resumes were my biggest struggle — I knew what I'd done, but I had a hard time quantifying my experiences and presenting them clearly. That was the gap I knew I needed to close.

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Later, on campus, I found OSG through recommendations from a few upperclassmen.

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Only after joining did I realize how many knowledge gaps I'd had during those freshman-year interviews. Now, whenever I run into questions like that, I can immediately find the right mentor to fill in the missing pieces. It took me a while to understand, but mentors' help really is worth far more than struggling through on my own.

An Information Network That Reaches Every Corner of the Industry

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My lead mentor, Ian, has been incredibly dedicated. From day one, he built channels for me to connect with mentors across different fields — hedge funds, every corner of investment banking, and more — so I could talk directly with people working in the industry. I could learn why they chose their path and what each field is really like. That kind of horizontal exposure is something I could never have built on my own.

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That paid off in interview prep, too. When I was interviewing for teams like TMT or distressed and restructuring, I honestly only had a vague idea of what those groups actually do. My mentors would give me a solid overview, which helped me walk into interviews with confidence and stay calm.

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The thing I dreaded most was the self-introduction. I told Paul about it: I really wasn't comfortable condensing everything I'd done into a one- or two-minute pitch — and yet it's the first impression people have of you, so it has to be good. It felt impossible.

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Paul immediately broke it down for me. We looked at the directions I was preparing for, which interviews I'd received, and which firms valued which qualities in applicants — and what my introduction needed to emphasize for each one.

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He helped me rework the wording and structure of my existing stories. For specific companies, he would dig out other stories from my life that fit the role I was targeting.

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For example, he pointed out that my fencing experience is a great conversation starter — it genuinely shows my character and adaptability. When I moved it ahead of my professional experience, the whole introduction suddenly gained a sense of layering and flow.

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Beyond the technical help, I clearly remember that Paul and Sarah's weekly workshops also covered mindset — how to pace yourself, get enough sleep, and manage your schedule so you can sustain the long grind ahead. That genuinely encouraged me and gave me the confidence to keep going.

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The Goldman Sachs Offer — the Best One Yet

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To be honest, finance was my only plan. I had no backup path, which added pressure throughout recruiting. I knew a lot of my classmates were preparing Plan Bs, but I never had a safety net that felt secure. Every step of the process carried extra weight for me.

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What kept me going was my pinned OSG group chat. Through every stage of the process, before and after every interview, they were there. Sometimes nothing even needed to be said — just knowing someone was there was enough. Having that group behind me is one of the things I'm most grateful for in this whole journey.

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Goldman Sachs was a completely unexpected outcome for me. My original goal had been hedge funds — but after trying a few experiences, I realized I was drawn to industry research instead. The idea of turning complex information into clear, well-articulated views and sharing them with the market is exactly what I want to do. That's when the Goldman opportunity appeared.

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To prepare for Goldman's final round, OSG matched me with multiple mentors to fill in my knowledge gaps. Depending on each interviewer's coverage, my mentors walked me through industry trends, had me do related research, and helped me build my own stock pitch. All that training gave me real confidence in the final round — I felt like I could actually connect with the interviewers.

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Then came three whole weeks of silence. I hadn't heard back, and the wait got to me at times. But deep down, I kept believing: after fighting this hard through recruiting, the right offer would eventually come.

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Finally, one morning at 6 a.m., Goldman called. I missed it — they said they'd call back the next day. I remember thinking: they wouldn't call just to reject me, right? Either way, it would be a rejection or an offer.

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The next day, I picked up: it was an offer! I let out the biggest sigh of relief.

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As a junior just starting out, I want to use this time to sharpen my skills and settle into the industry I love.

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My biggest piece of advice for freshmen and sophomores: know what you want, and know it early. If you've already figured out your direction, go all in. But if you haven't figured it out yet, don't shut yourself in your room and spiral — talk to as many people as you can. The more perspectives you gather, the better your odds of making the right choice.

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At the end of the day, preparing early is your best armor.

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*Disclaimer: OSG has no cooperation/affiliation with the companies mentioned in the article; OSG students enhance their abilities through OSG services and secure offers through regular campus recruitment/social recruitment channels.