I am a high school student graduating from Troy High School, starting my career in the business field.

About: My name is Aaron Chang, and I’m from Diamond Bar, California. With an interest in quantitative economics, business disciplines, and human behavior, I explore valuable theoretical insights and solutions for myself, as well as younger and same-age peers, on personal finance and economic models for their game design or shop projects. My latest project involved leading the game economics designs for the video game projects of my peer group in Irvine.

Background: I will be graduating from Troy High School in Fullerton, California. I’ve always been curious about how people make decisions, why they spend, save, or take risks. My interest in economics started with a small risk I took in selling handmade rubber band bracelets and charms, which I designed and sold to classmates. As I run my Etsy shop, I learned how people’s value and trades changed with product, prices, timing, and popularity. As I sold more, I discovered how much I enjoyed analyzing how people make decisions. Over time, I wanted to use what I learned to help others understand these same ideas, which led me to creating a youth financial literacy program that teaches saving and budgeting through real-world scenarios. Building on that, I later applied economic principles to game economic model design programs, to provide financial education for my peers, and a framework and useful methods to improve their self-designed products to succeed in attracting user’s consumption in the real world.

Approach: I analyze with curiosity and empathy, studying how people think and make choices, because I’ve learned that economics is more than numbers – it’s about understanding people, creativity, and the systems that shape everyday choices. I use this perspective to design meaningful solutions that improve real-world experiences.

What drives me most is understanding people and creating solutions that genuinely make a difference in how students and consumers think about money and decision-making. I approach each project by observing and researching what influences students’ and consumers’ choices, and how small changes can lead to bigger outcomes. When I developed my financial literacy curriculum, I first studied how middle school students engaged with money in their daily lives, then created lessons that made those ideas simple and relevant to their experiences and the world around them. The same curiosity guides my business projects, where I test different approaches and learn from every result. 

Across everything I do, a common thread is curiosity and care for how ideas work in real life. I enjoy connecting patterns between people and systems, then turning that understanding into something others can use and learn from. For me, the joy comes from watching those ideas grow into real progress.

(Motivation part)

I’m motivated by the idea of using economics to understand the world and create things that make a real difference. The more I learn, the more I see how markets and decisions connect to everyday life. Also, through managing my stock simulator portfolio, I’ve learned how to research companies, following trends to think deeply about what drives people’s choices that ultimately alters the market. I want to keep studying economics in an environment that encourages curiosity and hands-on learning, surrounded by mentors who show how ideas become action. My goal is to grow into someone who can take that knowledge and use it to help others, whether that means guiding clients, improving systems within a company, or building new projects that bring these economic ideas to life. Economics is my foundation, and I’m excited to keep building on it to understand people and shape meaningful change.