Stock Market Trading Day
By Manus, Year 10
Yesterday I had an unforgettable time. Why? Well because I had the fortune of experiencing the Stock Market Challenge.
As a part of our Making Memories, the school organised it to occur on Monday, March the 2nd. One of the first of many highlights of the experience was us being allowed to wear our own clothes, as long as they were of a formal nature. I personally had a laugh at the half-attempted outfits of some pupils and the awe inspiring glamour of others, and it made me think that there should be more opportunities like these for pupils to show off their wardrobe, no matter the theme.
After our morning line-up we were sent to our learning groups to be briefed on the challenge, seating plan and given a warm-up exercise, which was how to manage our finances in a fictional scenario.
At 9.40 all our rooms emptied out to come down to the renovated lunch hall. It put into perspective how many pupils there are in Saracens High. I took a seat at my table and heard a speech from our Vice Principal, Mr. Dannie. And then the bell was struck. The room imploded into shouting and floor traders in purple bibs rushed towards the front row towards the teachers who acted as our stock exchange.
I remember my table shouting at our floor trader to buy the stocks that were low, that Aqualux and Visage would take us to the moon as long as we held onto it. But were faced with disappointment and moments of happiness as the stocks naturally fluctuated up and down in accordance to fake news reports we received at the start of every ‘day’. At the end of the trading week (3pm), which ended with a massive economic boom in all stocks, my group made about £8900. Which isn’t much compared to the £61,000 pounds that table number 7 made!
It made me realise that the experience I had here, the adrenaline, the lows and the highs, were only likely a fraction of what real stockbrokers feel in massive centres of trade like the New York Stock Exchange.
The award for best dressed went to table number 22. The winning tables won boxes of Heroes chocolates. I felt slightly envious, but at the end of the day, this blood pumping experience was something that will stay in my memory for a while.
