Financial Literacy Workshop

Summation/Project Report

What should you know about me?

My activities are dictated by what I want to give back to the community. I have overcame
a past internal conflict through the help of my peers and community members. I devoted myself
to help others instead of changing myself for others. I have taken advantage of every opportunity
that was given to me and assisted others around my state. Through my devotion towards helping
others, I noticed the prevalence in the issues of financial stability. Pursuing a degree in
Marketing and Finance in Business would lead me to a step closer towards helping these
families. I envision myself providing families with a foundation in which is best suitable for
them, thus fulfilling my devotion towards helping others.
As a student, I have hit my lowest point in sophomore year as my gpa dropped, but I am proud to
have learned from my mistakes and challenged myself with a rigorous program. In junior year I
started the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and excelled in math. Currently I am in the
IB program and taking AP Statistics, while balancing my extracurricular. I am currently in my
fourth year in Student Government, third year in Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, third year in
Varsity Soft Tennis and Tennis, and my first year serving in School Community Council. What I
am most proud of is my third year in Leadership Experience Opportunity (LEO) club, where I do
community service. I invested so much time in the club and became the LEO state secretary
where I am able to serve in front of all Hawaii schools with a registered LEO club. I have always
had the heart to serve people and it started in my sophomore year where I became a Elementary
math tutor to a 3rd and 4th grade class.

Financial Literacy Workshops

Need
Currently our Nation has just surpassed a staggering amount of $19 Trillion in debt on
January 29, 2016. In relation to this issue, U.S. Households are struggling to feed their families
or pay off their debt. It is critical that we realize our lack of financial education as it cost our
Nation billions, if not more. Heidi Moore, a business editor claims that financial literacy is more
important than ever, not just because its an essential skill in managing a healthy financial life but
also because were just now crawling out of an economic crisis... What makes matters worse is
the issues of funding for college as the tuition of colleges climbs every year. It already difficult
for families to sustain themselves and now the high cost for their child's education adds on to
their burdens.
As residents of Hawaii, we rely heavily on tourism to sustain ourselves, but we still
struggle to pay the necessities of life. For instance, a full time employee working minimum wage
of $8.50 an hour will approximately earn $17,680 in Hawaii alone. We are told that attending
college and gaining a degree are the golden ticket to a successful life, yet residents do not have
enough to funds for college, let alone mortgage and food. To add onto this scenario, according to
recent surveys, 33%, or more than 77 million, of Americans don't pay their bills on time. At a
time like that, a habit is to charge expenses on a credit card or take a loan, but 39% of
Americans, carry credit card debt from month to month. Recent surveys concludes, only 59%
of adults say they have savings. It is disappointing that only have of Americans have some sort
of savings.
As the new generation come forth, many are exposed to these large amounts of debt and
some are unable to crawl out of their parents own economic crisis. According to CNBC news

article, US schools get failing grade in financial literacy education, it states that 20 states
currently mandate that high school students take economics. In continuation of the article, the
number of states that require high school students to complete a course in economics has
dropped over the last two years, and mandates for personal finance education in the upper grades
remain stagnant. These survey shows how loosely we care about financial literacy. Our actions
do not make sense as we continue to grow in debt, we appear to stray away from the problem.
unnecessary
Impact
Our source of knowledge is heavily dependent on perception as our experiences helps us
learn about our world. Through our five senses and interaction with the external world, we begin
to assimilate and perform. As the saying goes, monkey see, monkey do. Infants best display
this saying as they build their motor skills by imitating others. Youth is said to be the best time to
expose your child to the world and learn a new language. It is not ethical for families to display
such a hardship as they will imitate the same bad habits.
It is important for our younger generation to learn financial literacy as they will perform
good money making decisions. My experience in financial industry through my internship
allowed me to discover great financial concepts and habits that will assist me in the future. As I
was overfilled with joy in my confidence of financial literacy, I wanted to share this content
feeling. With the help of my internship, I was given the opportunity to hold a small financial
workshop in my local middle schools. In my city, there are two middle schools and I am
preparing for the workshops that will be held on February 9 and 10.
Viability

Consistently working on my agenda for the workshops, the idea of financial freedom for
America became surreal. I realized, in a perspective of a teenager, it would be comfortable to
learn from someone a little older. Though I am a student, I am very similiar to the ones who
would be in the workshop, possibly making my workshop more effective. I would be able to
make the concepts seem more relatable to them, thus building a connection and having that
mutual understanding as we are able to communicate with one another. The topic that I will start
off at these schools are the budgeting basics. They will first analyze past expenses and calculate
their overall expenses in a month. Wetting their feet in the area of good money making decisions
will allow stimulation as they will think about methods to increase their savings and ways to gain
more money.
The bottom line is that we need to take control and understand how we can make money
work for us. We need to learn how to manage our debt the right way and with pride. My mission
is to provide services to help resolve the consumer's dilemma - lack of understanding, planning
and support. Though it is a small step, it is on its way to greatness.We are creatures of habits that
will pave its ways for others to follow. Teaching individuals financial literacy at a young age will
help them evade bad habits in the future.This is the start to help move people from financial
insecurity to financial independence. The simple understanding of it is not just about what you
make but what you keep, will sure enough spark up some change, creating new habits for others
to reciprocate.