Meet Zifan Cao, MSBA, Fall 2022
I grew up in a small town in Henan Province China, called Luohe, meaning River of Luo. There are two beautiful rivers running through the city, and I guess that’s what my hometown is named Luohe.
The fierce competition among students in China to receive good college education is well known, especially if you want to enter one of the best schools and you are from a small but largely populated city. I was lucky to be a student who enjoyed studying and taking exams. I received relatively high scores in Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination in China) and was admitted to The University of Hong Kong as an undergraduate studying accounting and finance. HKU is one of the best institutions in Asia. I chose HKU for my undergrad not only for its reputation but also for its fully western education mode, including its English-teaching experience, robust academics, and research faculty. And Hong Kong is one of the global financial centers. The study at HKU prepared me for my future pursuit of a master’s degree at WashU. I had a seamless transition without a need to adapt myself to different teaching and studying styles. I did take a long time to transform my mindset of studying from an exam-taker (high school) to a real knowledge learner when I was an undergrad. I did not do so well in the first two years of undergrad both academically and in the fields of work, due to the lack of scheduling, self-study, and self-discipline, resulting in a mid-level GPA. The unwillingness to end my academic life with bad performance served as one of the motivations to pursue a master’s degree.
In addition, I did not land a satisfactory job offer. Upon self-reflection of my undergrad, I felt an eagerness to pursue further education, to learn subjects that are beyond accounting and finance but a complement to what I have already learned. I wanted to upgrade my toolkit and have a second chance to seek job opportunities in investment banking.
Then I found WashU. When I applied for a master’s in the US, they provided valuable advice in selecting schools and WashU/Olin was one of the most highly recommended ones. Along with a high reputation, I did my own research and found that Prof. Dybvig and Prof. Garleanu are teaching at WashU (they are my “idols” in academia). With further research of the Olin faculty, I became even more impressed. Great faculty is the fundamental root of a great educational institution. The MSBA fintech program perfectly matched what II needed for a master’s program with a quantitative focus (study subjects like programming, statistics, and machine learning) in the fields of finance. I hoped to complement my undergrad program with quantitative reasoning without leaving finance behind in my job search. Finally, Prof. Thomas Maurer, one of my favorite professors at HKU once taught at WashU and he gave me a lot of advice in applying for a master’s. I like the amazing chemistry when everything connects!
I am happy and proud of what I have learned, experienced, and achieved at WashU Olin. I owe all of my academic success to the students, faculty, and staff, who give me their full support, care, and help. There are two major takeaways I would like to share. First, be self-disciplined, target-oriented, and well-organized. These are the keys to success and what I lacked in my undergrad studies. With these three pillars, you will feel highly efficient and indefatigably motivated. Have a clear plan daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually to guide your path meanwhile reflect on yourself to know how far you’ve gone and whether you are on the right track. To execute the plan, you need to be target-oriented have the motivation, and be self-disciplined to avoid laziness and carelessness. Secondly, be passionate about everyday life. Go make friends, talk to them, have coffee with them, learn from them, and enjoy life with them. Go out hiking when you feel tired of work. Go get some rest and talk to people when you feel depressed. Try to enjoy every bit of life you can. That’s what I see and feel from the people in St. Louis. Their positive attitude, optimistic mindset, and gratefulness to God, no matter how difficult life can be. That is the source and core of energy. I really appreciate it and will apply myself to it.
After graduation, I will go to work on Wall Street at UBS Investment in Manhattan, New York. This is a dream come. I had so many detours in life and finally, with the education, great faculty, and alumni resources at WashU Olin, I realized one of my childhood goals, was to be a banker and to work on Wall Street. I will definitely cherish the opportunity to learn as much as I can and keep pursuing higher goals and standards. I also would like to connect with students and faculty who are related to or interested in banking and capital markets and build a strong tie with WashU and everyone in this family.
Fun fact? When I was in middle school, I hated playing sports but now I am a huge fan and a player in all kinds of sports. I am an especially crazy soccer fan and I played as a goalkeeper for the mainland Chinese students’ team at HKU. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to join a soccer team at WashU but I will try to pick up soccer when I work in New York. I am also interested in hiking. When I moved to the U.S. I started playing softball, airsoft/war games/shooting, fishing, and cycling. I hope to know more people with the same interests to play sports and stay in shape! Another fun fact is that I deem myself a good chef in Chinese cuisine and my expertise is in Szechuan food (spicy but delicious). I said to myself that if I lost my job as a banker maybe I will open a restaurant and be a chef! Someday I might say “Welcome to my restaurant!”
