The Reflections, Ramblings and Pitch of a Young AFCEAN
I was a junior in high school when I was invited to the house of my best friend, Adam, on the New Jersey shore. This was way before the garish reality TV show of the same name, but in much of the same way, my expectations were objectively excessive and shallow at their core. Who could blame me? Most of the town knew exactly who my friend’s father was. Mike was a vivacious and extremely rich man. We once calculated his estimated yearly income and compared it against Forbes magazine’s reported earnings for American singer, dancer and actress Britney Spears. Mike "won."
In my mind this invitation was my golden ticket and the beach house was that enchanted chocolate factory. The experience was certainly magical and frosted with nonsense. The strawberries tasted like a red Rosso Corsa Ferrari that I nervously drove to the carwash. The snozzberries tasted like a pair of 80 mph jet skis that resulted in a trip to the emergency room. This one taste of the good life had created the first dream scenario of the life that I wanted. I spent many subsequent years obsessively dreaming of and working diligently toward my own Robin Leach-inspired future.
Things have certainly changed since then. I now wear grown-up clothes, possess hefty bills and my desk is drowning in a pool of business cards and correspondence. I even have to occasionally shave my face, and as I do so I catch myself pondering the origins, implications and future of what business casual attire actually is. Am I ever doing it right? All of this seems to be far from the life of champagne and bubble baths, but my current path certainly feels like I am adulting.
That eccentric New Jersey experience set me on this happy adulting path that I am on. Now I am extremely grateful for the personal and professional life that I have. I also relish the opportunity to have experiences outside of my comfort zone. This mixture has been beneficial for me and I strongly believe it will be for you too.
My hunt for wealth has been an exciting and weird journey. This pursuit continues, albeit lower in my list of life goals. I often find myself contemplating the intricacies of my journey. What was the point of what I’ve done? What is next for me? Who do I want to be? I’ve only recently come to realize that making real and lasting connections is worth far more to me than that red Ferrari.
For the last eight years, I have had the pleasure of being part of the AFCEA community. If you’re like me and spend time pondering life and work, then I encourage you to seek the wisdom of a good AFCEA mentor. I have benefited from interacting with many AFCEA mentors over the years and I consider all these individuals close personal friends. I consider this a second golden ticket in my life. These are individuals who have contemplated and faced these same challenges head on. They have emerged improved from those experiences and lead lives of meaning, purpose and grace.
The AFCEA organization has provided much professional and personal wisdom, as well as an assessment and vision of the person that I aim to become. Getting a single golden ticket in a lifetime is a treasure; I am extremely grateful to have received two!
After graduating from Villanova University with a master's of science in finance, Adam Eng began his career as a hedge fund accountant for Citigroup. In the interest of accumulating good life stories, he opened an indoor paintball field with his best friend Keith and then joined Keith’s defense contractor company to practice business development. In his free time, Adam enjoys swing dancing, philosophy, high-stakes poker and finding new ways to enrich his character and life.
