Vedant recalls waking up at 4 a.m. on a quarantine morning and going through his usual routine, checking the stock price of Novavax, the biotechnology company that he had put his entire portfolio into. Staring at the number on his screen, Vedant couldn’t believe his eyes: Novavax’s stock price had jumped from $7 to $30 overnight. Reminiscing about his success during quarantine, Vedant’s eyes light up in excitement as he describes the “crazy feeling” he got after realizing that he had quadrupled his initial investment.

During his freshman year, Vedant read an article about a company that had raised $170 million for its medical research. He was surprised at the sheer amount of money that the company received through funding, and the news story sparked his interest in finance and investing.

“It was a biotech company, creating some type of innovative drug,” Vedant said. “I was so shocked that a single company could manage to raise that significant amount of capital. That led to me exploring finance in general and understanding what a stock was.”

Vedant soon taught himself the basics and created a personal portfolio to experiment with. Bringing his experience to the Harker community, Vedant currently leads Investment Club and works with other fellow investors to manage a $50,000 portfolio on behalf of the school. With patience and intensive research, the club has since grown their portfolio to $56,000.

Making money isn’t easy; the potential profits of investing comes with its costs. Through his setbacks and failures, Vedant has learned to assess risk and manage his money wisely.

“Understanding how to invest the money requires a lot more thinking, because at the end of the day, it’s not just your money on the line,” Vedant said. “The market itself is very volatile, so it’s very, very tough to consistently succeed and guarantee profitability. There’s a saying that 99% of people lose all of their money that they started with. Throughout high school, I started with a small portfolio and grew it over time. Navigating those challenges was pretty hard.”

Vedant also carries his curiosity and willingness to learn into the classroom. Mathematics teacher Dr. Bune Bloomquist, who teaches Vedant in statistics this year, appreciates his positive attitude in class.

“Vedant brings life, happiness and a lot of engagement,” she said. “There’s always good discussion in his group, and he helps his group mates so much with concepts and ideas. Sometimes we even chat about the stock market. It’s fun.”

Vedant brings this same positive energy to his friendships and to his community, which he cherishes. He enjoys basketball and currently plays for the varsity team. After trying many different sports in middle school, he settled on basketball, partly due to his height, but also because he values the team aspect.

“My teammates are very quirky, and a lot of them are on the younger side,” Vedant said. “Every time someone gets injured or someone gets hurt, they’re always there to help. I’ve developed some of the most amazing friendships being on the team.”

Many of Vedant’s friends see him as a humble and approachable person who is always willing to lend a helping hand.

“He’s very down to earth,” friend since ninth grade Caden Lin (12) said. “That comes both when he’s talking about his impressions on the world around him and when he’s talking about interpersonal things. When you ask him for advice, he makes sure not to sugarcoat things. I think at times that is really helpful.”

When Vedant walks around campus, he takes the time to greet people along the way. Even when he is going through difficult situations, Vedant always finds ways to offer support to others.

“Even if he has two tests and I only have one test, Vedant is still willing to help me study for my test,” Arthur Kajiyama (12), a friend since freshman year, said. “He really cares. And it’s not just his close friends. He does this for a lot of people too. He’s a great guy, and a very respectable individual.”

In his four years of high school, Vedant realized the importance of curiosity and passion. Instead of trying a little bit of everything, he devoted time and effort into subjects that truly mattered to him.

“It’s really easy for people to dilute themselves into a multitude of different activities,” Vedant said. “I found my love for finance, specifically through classes like economics. When you really hone your interest down, there’s a huge world that gets open to you. You don’t feel like you’re wasting time anymore. The main thing I learned throughout high school is how to find something that you love, and take it to the next level.”

Life has its ups and downs, and sometimes the unexpected may happen. Through his experiences, Vedant has learned to cherish his relationships with his teachers and friends and to “enjoy every second.” Instead of letting the negatives drag him down, Vedant appreciates the positives in his life.

“It’s really easy to get sidetracked by many different things in life,” Vedant said. “And it’s really easy to focus on the bad things, especially a bad grade or a bad situation in life, and let that affect the way you view your activities, your friends and everything. But, by trying to enjoy even the smallest things like an interaction with a friend or [a] conversation with people and taking life a second at a time, it becomes a lot more enjoyable.”