Business has become a dominant factor in modern society, with its appeal reaching out to masses around the world, including young people. Senior Rahul Kannam is one of these students drawn to the attraction of the corporate world and learning the ins and outs of business. 

Kannam’s interest in business began in seventh grade when he became involved in the process of investing. Through investment, he was introduced to business and, since then, has fostered a passion for it. 

“Investing brought me into the fold of business and the various aspects of it,” Kannam said. “I knew I was interested in it when I became more [interested] in financial literacy.”

As a result, he became a member of DECA as a sophomore in order to further explore this interest. Through DECA, he was able to compete in various competitions, including the Personal Financial Literacy Event for the State CDC last semester. 

“I was interested in any club that had something regarding the stock market,” Kannam said. “DECA kind of [resembled] that for me. Plus, the students [who were] passionate for their competitions and easy going with the advisors made me more motivated to join.”

Besides getting involved in business, Kannam is also a member of the boys varsity tennis team, which won the district level championship this year. He is also a member of three honor societies and a member of the former Youth and Government club. Outside of school, he is also involved in cricket.

One of Kannam’s other achievements in business includes being the co-founder of the Investment Club. The club aims to inform and educate students about financing, specifically investing, and how to manage money in the future. The club started recently, in September 2019. Kannam said that he is proud of the growing membership and progress the club has made so far and hopes that it will continue to thrive in the following years. 

“The club is something I’m astonished to see grow today and the pride of the two years I have put my sweat in,” Kannam said. “Moreover, when I graduate, I hope to see it continue and be more successful than when I was with it.”

Kannam also created a website for the club in order to promote the club and provide information and access to potential members. Additionally, those who expressed interest in the club can contact the club advisor, junior Aiden Seibel. 

“The website I created was to get the word out on [the] investment club as well as the purpose for it and help others get a feel for what kind of [a] place it is,” Kannam said. “I made it so if anyone was curious about joining [the club], they could take a look [at the website] and get some answers when looking at it.”

In terms of future education, Kannam is going to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study a mix of finance and cybersecurity. He said he wants to learn something new as well as gain access to easy employment opportunities. 

“It’s easier to find a job and learn something new as well [with this major],” Kannam said. “It makes it a lot simpler to be in demand because if you have more skills [that] employers want, you can constantly stay in demand.” 

Overall, Kannam said he wants to get familiar with the process of working a business before actually starting one. However, he does have plans to start one in the future. 

“I would like to work in the finance area for business and understand companies’ finances and logistics,” Kannam said. “I would like to start a business, and I have tried to start one about t-shirts with a friend which ultimately fell through. I still had fun planning and designing it with him, though. In the future, maybe starting a business is very possible, but I would like to rather join a startup so I can learn more about the growing process before starting my own business.”