Hannah Jeon

“If you want to succeed, you’ve got to take the risks. And I’m willing to do that. That’s kind of why I trade stocks, too, so I can kind of build enough money to take this risk,” Andrew Au (12) said.

With moments left before Andrew Au’s (12) presentation at the 2024 DECA Silicon Valley District Career Development Conference (SVCDC), his usual joking personality takes a backseat as he adopts a more serious, focused demeanor. Weeks of preparation led up to this moment: a ten-page paper, a 100-question exam and a meticulously crafted presentation. With unwavering confidence, Andrew and his teammate stand in front of their judge, ready for the final part of their written event.

As the speaker announced winners during the awards ceremony, Andrew and Edward placed first in their category. As they climbed onto the podium, they ripped open their suits with a shout to reveal their matching shirts stating “I’M HIM,” prompting the audience’s laughter.

“Since Edward and I have been doing this for four years, we kind of knew that we wouldn’t lose, at least, because we were a little bit more experienced than the others,” Andrew said. “But we just prepared it just in case we had won our event. We knew it was kind of a long shot, either we win, and we get to do the celebration, or we don’t.”

After being exposed to business in middle school by a friend, Andrew grew interested in the stock market and bought books about stock analysis and money-making techniques to learn more about investing. In eighth grade, he opened an investment account under his father’s name and started investing, using his gains to reinvest, and also learned to accept losses.

“Sometimes I don’t make much money, or I lose some money,” Andrew said. “That kind of hurts, so you learn to be patient when investing in stocks. Sometimes I’m not really patient, but I’ve mentally trained myself to be more patient.”

To better immerse himself in the business world, Andrew joined DECA in freshman year and started taking more business classes throughout high school, and he aspires to find his own business someday. Even with the risks of entrepreneurship and the stock market, he stays firm in his goals.

“If you want to succeed, you’ve got to take the risks,” Andrew said. “I’m willing to do that. That’s why I trade stocks, too, so I can kind of build enough money to take this risk.”

Still, Andrew’s goals include more than just money, and close friend and DECA teammate Edward Huang (12) notes Andrew’s creative approach to business. He commends Andrew’s quick thinking and creativity behind their first-place trophy in their Silicon Valley District Career Development Conference written event.

“He has talent for business in general and coming up with ideas on the fly. I’ve never seen that in anyone else in my entire life,” Edward said. “His ability to generate crazy ideas that somehow just work so well. Honestly, I don’t know how he does it, but it works every single time he does, and that’s amazing.”

Both within and outside of the business world, Andrew strives to make connections with his community. After entering high school, he resolved to build as many relationships as possible and leave a positive image of himself on others.

“In business, I believe that connections are really important,” Andrew said. “In high school, I just started making more jokes and being friendlier to other people, and that made me happier too, which is great.”

Andrew balances his work with his jokes, even gaining a reputation as the class jokester in his Japanese classes. Close friend and classmate Jason Monaghan (12) notes his easygoing disposition yet emphasizes his motivated personality.

“He’s very driven,” Jason said. “He gets an idea and encourages me and everyone to go along with it and experiment and have fun. Especially when we’re just doing pretty boring day-to-day things, but with him there’s always something new we’re doing, just laughing and joking.”

To utilize his skills and help others, Andrew began volunteering at the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program last year. There, he helps file taxes for underprivileged families who may not speak English fluently.

“I talk to the families themselves and get an understanding of their situation,” Andrew said. “Then I get a hold of their financial data and help them file their taxes. I’ve helped a lot of people through that program.”

Andrew also applies his driven nature to learning new languages, a hobby that began when his parents taught him Mandarin and Cantonese at a younger age. He continued learning Japanese at school and also recently picked up Korean. As Andrew frequently enjoys visiting new countries, his travels inspire him to continue learning new languages to better communicate with locals and engage with their culture.

“When my friends and I went to Tokyo, we were lost in the middle of nowhere,” Andrew said. “At that time, I didn’t have a lot of Japanese experience, but I went up to a random stranger and asked him for directions. They understood me, and I felt really good, since it shows that I haven’t been learning for nothing.”

Japanese teacher Yumiko Aridomi, who taught Andrew for the past three years, comments on Andrew’s growth throughout the years and encourages his funny and laid-back personality.

“In his freshman year, sometimes he was goofing around,” Aridomi said. “But he’s gotten more mature and now he’s more respectful; he can tell when he can goof around or behave well. I like his humorous and easygoing personality. So I hope he’ll just be as he is.”