Patrick Parker

I am a student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I am currently in my junior year and my declared major is Finance. I also plan on minoring in Economics.

When I was young my family always used to call me "money man" because there didn't seem to by a time where I wouldn't be counting my money. I was obsessed with how much money I had and would always know exactly how much I had in my wallet at any point during the day. Before my parents could even buy me a wallet I decided to make one out of ducktape that was surprisingly durable and lasted a long time.

I believe this fascination with money and the fixation of counting it led me to my biggest hobby and passion which is poker, specifically texas hold'em. At age 14 I started playing online poker with real money that my brother had transfered into my account. I played online for a few years until I was old enough to go play in some live poker rooms. Many people think that poker is just another form of gambling but it's not. There is a lot more that goes into it than just luck such as calculating odds of certain hands and knowing when to raise, fold etc. Since being able to go to poker rooms and finally this past summer Foxwoods I have won a few thousand of dollars. Poker is also a hobby I can play for my whole life. Unlike sports such as hockey or baseball that you cant play because of the physical toll on your body you can play poker for your whole life.

I don't think it's a coincident that the career field I am going into is all about money. After being obsessed with money at a young age that led my into a hobby that is all about money, it is no surprise that my career would probably end up having to deal with money and calculations. Finance is a field that no matter what you get into your always going to be dealing with money. The field that I am thinking of getting into is dealing with the stock market and portfolios. This seems suitable because in my opinion the stock market is almost like poker. You have to put money in to make money and you have to be careful about the moves you do and make sure the move you do is the right play. My hobby came from a young obession and my career path came from hobby.