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About Me
Written by T. Luijf   

My name is Thijs Luijf, born on the 20th of October 1987 in Naarden, the Netherlands.

Raised in a small city in the center of the Netherlands called Eemnes, growing up to become a kid with a high affinity with figures and money.

After moving to Almere at age of 8, I received my "Voorbereidend Middelbaar Beroepsonderwijs" (VMBO) diploma from Helenpark Hurst College in Almere, when I was only 15 years old.
I had grown fond on everything that had to do with computer or software, which was the reason I decided to pursue an Associate's degree in IT and Application Development. When I graduated in 2006 I knew I had more potential than stopping after an Associate's degree.

 

In September 2006, I enrolled for the major "Interactive Media" at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, University of Applied Science. An undergraduate course dedicated to the marketing and design side of the media sector. I completed the foundation year however during the first semester of the second year I decided that it was not what I was looking for and what I wanted to do.

 

With me mind set on a Bachelor's degree, I started looking for a new major and I found myself going back to what I had a high interest in my whole life. My new major was going to be International Business and Management Studies, a lot of financial courses and new interesting things as management and marketing. It turned out to be the best choice I have ever made in my, still relative short, life. I am more motivated than I have ever been to go to lectures and read as much as possible on anything related to the business development, economics, and investing.

 

Part of my Bachelor's curriculum is to follow a semester abroad. After my foundation year, I was able to select which university I would like to do my exchange at and thanks to my high grades I was able to choose the top ranked McGill University in Montreal, Canada. During the semester at McGill I focused on Investment Management and Capital Markets, I also got introduced to the McGill Investment Club. The McGill Investment Club inspired me to get more involved with my university and wrote a proposal for our own investment club, the HES Investment Club.

 

The proposal for the HES Investment Club (HIC) was received as a great plan by my university and I was given a 'go' to start working on it. Together with my associate, Tobias de Koning, I started working on the launch of the HIC. I started developing an online platform where our members would be able to trade stocks, currencies, derivatives, and other securities in an online trading game. The first meeting was on November 19th of 2010 that, to our surprise and excitement, attracted more than 60 students on a Friday afternoon. After only 6 months we already had 170+ members and organised our first field trip to the Euronext Amsterdam.

 

After three years my average grade is 8.12 out of 10 for the whole curriculum which is an equivalent of an USA Grade Point Average of 4 or A1, with a total of 180 ECTS credits.

 

1: website of Universiteit Utrecht, School of Economics -http://www.uu.nl/uupublish/education/studentdesk/references/gradepointaverag/48221main.html, 21st of February, 2009.

To learn more about my academic and professional experience you can read my Curriculum Vitae.