My Life, Part V: Entering a New World

My journey began that summer. By the time I was out of high school, I had pretty much so mastered the Q line. Growing up in Brighton Beach, I was directly under the train station, but down the block from Brooklyn's own beach. Under those circumstances, the train became one of your best friends.

It was right around early June, and I was already late for registration. I had no clue where I was supposed to go. I had the open scholarships for football to every Mormon or Catholic college there was, but it seemed as if this was all a big joke. I'm a Jew! Not only that, but here I am coming from a house where my parents had to learn how to survive because of their religion.

So Wall Street, here I was. It was the summer of 1992 and the stock market was hot. I rode the Q everyday thinking about what I was going to do. The world around me was moving so quickly. The NASDAQ market capitalization was only at $615 billion, war began in former Yugoslavia, El Salvador signed the long-awaited peace agreement with the Guerillas, Gino Torretta from Miami was a few months away from the Heisman Trophy, Patrick J. Sloyan from the New York Newsday won the Pulitzer and here I was, this 18-year-old straight out of high school.

My fight was not against the El Salvador Guerillas, it was fighting my dad to play college ball. On top of that, I was being pulled away by all of my sisters friends who were these hot shot brokers. Was I to go to college or become this hot shot broker?

I spent hours every day during the hot NYC summer working at Shearson Lehman. On the weekends, I prepped for football. By July, I had already missed football camp at all of the schools I wanted to attend, and it seemed as if school was no longer an option.

But I chose the dream.