Shalan Alayan hopes to one day have a job in finance where he can leverage his financial knowledge to build a successful life for himself.

Every year at JFK, we must say goodbye to our outstanding seniors. One such senior who is graduating in the class of 2024 is Shalan Alayan. Following in the footsteps of graduating seniors before him, Shalan is trying to carve a path for himself outside of high school. To gain a better understanding of what this path may look like for Shalan, the following interview will not only help us gain a better understanding of who he is as a person but also immortalize our fellow Torch member for future seniors to view and learn from. 

I noticed that you were interested in doing finance in the future. I was just wondering what initially got you interested in finance?

Shalan: So during COVID, definitely back then, I was definitely getting more and more into the business field and starting to look into things like the stock market and stuff. I found a lot of interest in it and it was very fun during that era. I might even have some stocks on standby for me to actually make some money for me off of that. I just really enjoy the business field altogether. I will definitely say I’m not certain on doing finance, but I will say my field, one hundred percent is business. Other options I’d say would be supply chain or logistics or maybe marketing. 

What type of job in finance do you want to have? Why do you want this job?

I’d say that I definitely would become maybe a financial analyst. I definitely like the analytical part of any really… like in this case I really like analysizing information. Analyzing information is very interesting. Definitely another field is investment banking, that I’m really into. But if I want to kind of shift away from finance I would definitely want to become a marketing manager or sales or something. And then for supply chain stuff and logistics there is definitely interest there. 

I noticed that you said you had a house in Türkiye. What is it like being in Türkiye and is it different from being in the U.S.?

One hundred percent. Everything over there [Türkiye] is way different. The food is ten times better than America. 

Do you have a favorite food?

Over there, kabobs, one hundred percent.

What is that?

So it’s basically like meat, but the seasoning they use for it is different. They pack it with a bunch of different seasonings so it’s really good. They have big dishes with chicken, rice and everything and its really good.

Lets see what else. The weather, I’d say its similar here in the summer. Winter its slightly warmer there. I’d say maybe you’re talking 50s in the day to 30s at night. So its not warm.

People say that your senior year is the best year of high school. Is this actually true?

No [laughter]. I would argue a lot that sophomore year is actually your best year because I feel like you’re not a freshman anymore, but you’re still an underclassman and you don’t carry all these responsibilities yet. Now, depending on when you turn 16 during sophomore year, you may be able to get a job early. So you have a job during sophomore year, you don’t have to deal with many responsibilities….   

Did you have a favorite moment this year or not really?

I’d definitely say I tried getting involved as much as possible. In terms of going to school functions and doing as many school functions as possible. Hanging out as much as possible [with friends]. Making really the most out of it [school]. Even if I had things to do, I would still find time to have fun because this is your last year of high school….

So you want to have a final impact on this place basically?

Yeah because looking at it, my group [of friends], we’re probably not going to the same college. Is it guaranteed we’re going to have the same classes? No. Is it guaranteed that we are going to see each other every day? No. Is it guaranteed that we are going to stick together? No. It’s not guaranteed, which is why we have to enjoy our time now. 

Please note that at the original posting of this article, it stated “wheat kabobs” but should have read “meat kabobs”.