A meeting hosted earlier this month by the Financial Market Analysis Organization (FMAO), Investment Club and McCrypto Club attracted over 100 people in the Lecture Hall during Highlander Time October 4th.

“We were definitely excited to share our passions with such a large number of people,” said senior Charles Tang, president of McLean’s FMAO. “To be honest, we were expecting the massive turnout due to our effective advertising at Celebrate McLean and the club being spread through word of mouth.” 

Though the clubs’ leaders expected a good turnout to the joint meeting, the turnout was still somewhat of a shock. 

“When I walked in the room I was surprised to see so many people showed up because last year we had around 60 members,” said Jacob Miller, co-president of the investment club. “We just hope it wasn’t a fluke,” said Miller. 

If the laughter in the Lecture Hall and vibrant energy of the presenters were any indication, the meetings may be on track to attract even more students. Club leaders knew their audience, and made sure to keep a healthy amount of jokes and memes throughout their presentations. 

“It was just all around a good time,” senior Jessica Dziedzic said “The meeting was informative, but I also laughed a lot.”

During the meetings, the club leaders presented a balance of educational slides, financial market updates and information about the various investment simulations taking place within some of the clubs.

“In a typical club meeting, we educate our students on topics like blockchain technology, interesting cryptocurrencies and NFTs,” Co-President of the McCyrpto Club Arman Nikmorad said

The successful outcome was mainly due to the preparation the officers did prior to the meeting.  

“A few weeks before our scheduled meeting, our officers review and select a few important and applicable financial topics,” Tang said. “Next, we narrow it down to one topic, and plan our meeting lecture around that topic. We work cooperatively with McCrypto and Investors Club to make sure our presentations are complementary to each other.”

The Club leaders have some special plans for future meetings and activities as well. 

“For McCrypto, we plan to have guest speakers, from Wall Street investors to cryptocurrency market experts to investment brokers, to come speak about careers in investing,” Nikmorad said. “We also want to expand our cryptocurrency market simulation game because whoever wins with the highest investment return will get a fresh cooked steak from our sponsor Mr. Thomas, gift cards and McLean merch from Dr.Reilly.”  

The leaders are excited to build their respective clubs into opportunities for students to learn about financial investing.

“Our goal is to help kids realize the value that investing can bring to their financial situation and for future generations. We want to help our members to develop their passion and understanding for the stock market,” Tang said. 

The leaders of the clubs hope to inspire and encourage others to start exploring the fields of finance and investment as it will prepare them for the future. 

“I would like to see students start investing in the crypto and stock markets so they can become financially independent,” said Nikmorad. “We feel that this is a really good way to leave a positive impact on our peers and community as we graduate high school.”