Many of our Euro Challenge alumni have made it to the corporate world. Learn more about where they are now and how Euro Challenge helped them in their career path:
Name: Taran Krishnan
Education: Johns Hopkins University
Euro Challenge: 2014
Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Hobbies: Reading, Squash and making Spotify playlists
Taran Krishnan is a student at the Johns Hopkins University, studying Economics and International Studies. He is part of the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium, the Marshal L. Salant Investment team and a member of JHU TAMID. He is expected to graduate in 2020.
In high school, Taran became interested in economics after participating in the Euro Challenge competition. He felt the real world analysis of economic conditions in the Euro Area allowed him to keep up with politics, personal finance and general conversation. Taran became interested in financial literacy while interning at W!SE (Working in Support of Education), an opportunity he found by participating in Euro Challenge.
Taran attributes the Euro Challenge competition as a major factor in his choice to study Economics and International Studies at Johns Hopkins. He plans to study abroad his junior year in France; the Euro Area country he studied as part of the 2014 competition.
For high school freshman and sophomores competing in the Euro Challenge competition, Taran recommends getting to know their team. “Spending hours researching and practicing your presentations becomes exponentially more fun when you know and trust your teammates,” he said, “I remember our advisor, Lisa Bergman, would always bring cookies and pizza to our meetings whenever we had to work late. Staying at school past 6 p.m. soon stopped becoming a chore and I started looking forward to our meetings.”
Name: Megan Luppino
Job Title: Debt Capital Markets Analyst, Deutsche Bank
Education: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Mount Saint Mary Academy
Euro Challenge: 2010
Hometown: Westfield, NJ
Hobbies: Traveling, Irish dancing, fashion, pretending to enjoy running, buying one of everything in the frozen food aisle of Trader Joe’s, and sourcing recommendations for shows to "binge-watch" on Netflix
Megan is currently in her second year as a Debt Capital Markets Analyst at Deutsche Bank. She works with Consumer & Retail companies to analyze capital structure opportunities and issue debt across a number of global bond markets.
In May 2016, Megan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied Management and Retailing at The Wharton School. She credits her experience in the Euro Challenge competition as a defining moment of her high school experience and one that shaped her future plans. The exposure to economic topics and current events spurred a desire to continue a business education. In fact, her team’s focus on Germany for the competition even allowed her to learn more about her current employer, Deutsche Bank, due to its influential role in the European economy.
No matter how much you know about the EU and economics prior to the Euro Challenge, Megan recommends doing as much research as possible: “It’s so important to research every topic that you come across during your preparation, and to continue to ask questions to your advisors and fellow teammates. I distinctly remember when my team had our “light bulb moment” of understanding GDP by piecing together the different inputs. We spent hours bouncing questions off one another in order to truly grasp the concept.” This way, when a topic comes up during the Q&A session, your team not only knows the answer to the question but truly understands the answer!
Name: Ronald Basin
Job Title: Student at University of Michigan
Education: University of Michigan, International Academy
Euro Challenge: 2011
Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI
Hobbies: Playing soccer and spending time with friends
A senior at the University of Michigan, Ronald Basin is majoring in business administration with a minor in computer science. Ronald chose the University of Michigan because of its highly regarded Stephen M. Ross School of Business and its access to technical degrees.
In the summer of 2016, Ronald was software engineer intern at Amazon, in Seattle, WA, where he worked in the information security department and developed an internal web app to automate security practices.
Ronald remembers the Euro Challenge as one of his most poignant growth moments in high school. The program helped him to learn how to think critically, especially under pressure. Additionally, the Euro Challenge sparked his interest in international economics and led him to choose a degree in business administration.
Ronald’s advice for current Euro Challenge participants is “In economics, there is never a right answer. So, make sure you have a sound understanding of what the drawbacks are for any solution you come up with. This also holds true for whatever questions the judges may ask you about monetary policy, single currency implications, etc. Ultimately, the teams that do best can discuss both sides of the coin in an eloquent way.”
Caroline ryng
Job title: Rotational Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Education: Bentley University; Joel Barlow High School
Euro Challenge: 2010
Hometown: Easton, CT
Hobbies: Traveling, puzzles, and kayaking
Caroline is currently a Rotational Analyst at the New York Fed, working within the Markets Group. She started at the Fed right out of school, and has been working there for two months. As a member of the Markets Group, Caroline analyzes various financial arenas like equities and credit alongside senior specialists. She became interested in working for the Fed after competing in high school Euro and Fed Challenge, discovering a fascination with monetary policy in the process. Caroline went on to double-major in Economics-Finance and Liberal Studies with a concentration in Global Perspectives, graduating from Bentley University’s Honors Program in three years. While at Bentley, Caroline completed an internship abroad in London, UK, with a small economics consultancy firm that does work for many globally recognizable names, including the European Commission and the British Parliament. She also worked as a Research Assistant for a professor on campus studying campaign financing.
For students considering the Euro Challenge competition, Caroline highly recommends “Go for it! Even if you don’t already have a background in economics or the EU!” Caroline and her teammates competed without ever having taken an economics class, and she actually decided to pursue an Economics degree in college after participating. Caroline believes that “economics has a hand in almost every aspect of daily life, and getting a head start in understanding the fundamentals is invaluable in today’s fast-paced global markets – gaining this perspective from the standpoint of a foreign central bank as prominent and unique as the ECB is an added bonus!”
Jeremy Tarica
Job title: Banking Analyst at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Education: Vanderbilt University; George W. Hewlett High School
Euro Challenge: 2010
Hometown: Hewlett, NY
Hobbies: Lacrosse, Football, Poker, Traveling, and meeting new people.
Jeremy Tarica is a banking analyst at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He advises companies on strategic and financial alternatives that are aimed at growing a company and returning capital to shareholders.
In May 2016, Jeremy graduated from Vanderbilt University, where he studied Human and Organizational Development and Financial Economics. His interest in finance and economics stems largely from his participation in the Euro Challenge. The experience, he says, opened his eyes to the intricacies of monetary policy and the economy as a whole.
During summer breaks, he pursued multiple internship opportunities in New York City, a practice he strongly encourages other students to do. Most notably, he interned at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an Investment banking analyst in the Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) group. The internship led to his current position at the company.
Jeremy sees the Euro Challenge as one of the most pivotal academic experiences of his life. “The ability to discuss ECB policy and future economic considerations in front of—and with—ECB policymakers is beyond rare for 9th and 10th grade students,” he says. “It’s important to realize that and make the most of it.” Jeremy also contributes his drive for success to the Euro Challenge, which exposed him to the fun and value of high-pressure, healthy competition. He remembers how nervous he was when he was about to present with his team. His advice? “Just breathe and trust your team. No matter what, it will be an incredibly enjoyable learning experience.”
Alaukita Shah
Job title: Analyst at Goldman Sachs
Education: Cornell University; East Brunswick High School
Euro Challenge: 2011
Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ
Hobbies: Traveling and dancing
Alaukita Shah is an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Management Division. In her position, Alaukita evaluates hedge funds to see if they are good investments for her clients. Alaukita became aware of the position at Goldman Sachs through her alma mater, Cornell University. In May 2016, she graduated from Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Economics and Management. By attending Cornell, Alaukita says, she was able to study finance with the best professors in the world, while staying close to her home in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
After participating in the Euro Challenge, Alaukita developed the passion to pursue a career in finance. The program helped her grow because it required her to present an analysis to a group of very qualified and high-ranking people in the business world. In preparation, she spent hours researching macroeconomics, the Sovereign Debt Crisis, and anything else she might need to know to succeed in the competition. She came to understand how economies were connected and how the macro environment affected global markets.
What’s her advice for participating students? “Work your hardest, research anything and everything that may be related to your topic, anticipate questions, practice your presentation as much as possible—and make sure to enjoy the moment!”
Hassan Hamade
Job title: Risk Management Analyst at PolyPaths
Education: Brown University; Bronx High School of Science
Euro Challenge: 2010
Hometown: Queens, NY
Hobbies: Weight lifting, reading, and meditation
Hassan Hamade is a risk management analyst at PolyPaths, a company that makes software for firms and individuals that trade fixed income derivatives. In his current position, he models risk and rewards using the proprietary Polypaths software.
Although he was a biotechnology major at Brown University and a cancer researcher in high school, Hassan always had a deep obsession with markets. He participated in the Euro Challenge because he was curious about how the global recession could impact Greece’s recovery. The Euro Challenge cemented his interest in finance and economics and showed him that there were many unanswered questions left to solve.
Hassan believes that the most beneficial part of the Euro Challenge is that it introduced him to macroeconomic theory. Before the Euro Challenge, he says, “I did not even know how governments raise money by selling bonds, or what interest rates are!” His advice to students participating in the Euro Challenge is to “Read! Read Smith, Keynes, and Mankiw. It will help you develop both personally and intellectually. Be open to new ideas, learn to entertain foreign thoughts, but ultimately make your own decisions for what is ‘correct’ and what is not.”