Steven Ting grew up as an only child to parents Edward and Teresa Ting. The three of them lived in a large home in Claremont, California. Steven attended elementary, junior high and high school in Claremont. During his early years, Steven was a bit of a nerd. He excelled in mathematics and was involved in any activity that his mother thought was worthy of praise. Steven began playing violin at the age of 4, starting with a granola box and ruler. He doesn't remember when he received his first real violin, but he does remember that the first few years were difficult.
By the time Steven entered elementary school, he was a decent violin player. In third grade, Steven had a short stint with the clarinet, even though he wanted to try the trumpet. During junior high, Steven rebelled and tried to play the bass, but eventually went back to the violin. Steven was very quiet and shy until he reached high school. During high school, Steven became more social and less nerdy.
In 9th grade, Steven tried out for the Freshman Football Team, while the rest of his friends were in cross country or soccer. Football was tough but Steven had big dreams. Steven didn't play much but it was still fun. In 10th grade, Steven switched to cross country so he could be with his friends. If the football couch was going to make Steven run, it might as well be without the shoulder pads. Steven did better in cross country and made many new friends. In the second half of 10th grade, there was an opening in the student counsel. Steven ran a small campaign and eventually won the position of secretary/treasurer for the 10th grade. Steven made even more friends and eventually won the election for next year's secretary/treasurer position for the 11th grade.
During Steven's 10th grade experiences in student counsel, he met two attractive girls on the counsel that were cheerleaders. They were both seniors and they were cute. These cheerleaders somehow talked Steven into trying out for the cheer team. This was a little strange as there were no boys on the cheer team. Steven went to all of the practices and auditioned and made it on the team. The idea was that Steve could then spend more time with these two cheerleaders. Alas, Steve made a wrong calculation. The girls were graduating and would not be on the team.
In the 11th grade, Steven served faithfully on the student counsel. He also did great as a cheerleader and also competed in cross country and track. Being the only male cheerleader was very intimidating for Steven. He was teased by almost everyone. Luckily, the girls on the team stood up for me. The 11th grade year was very busy between all of the activities I was involved in. Steven also joined the Chamber Singers, the smaller group on campus. Between all of his activities, Steven almost didn't pass some of his classes. Steven endured, convinced one of his friends to join the cheer squad, won another election to become Associated Student Body President, played in a private orchestra, participated in sports, sang in the choir, and some how helped plan the prom. It was a very busy year.
The 12th grade was the last of high school and very fun. At the end of the 11th grade year, Steven had enough credits to graduate. Knowing this fact, Steven took a lighter course load. This was also the year that Steven had his first girlfriend. With all of the activities, high school was great. Steven didn't want to leave but we all must continue on.
Steven attended University of California, Riverside as a political science major. He attended for two years and was fairly successful, making the Dean's list. The choir program at UCR had many things left to be desired. To compensate, Steven attended MT.SAC's madrigal program. They were a premier group in the valley. Since Steven was commuting to both schools, he had very few friends. To compensate, Steven tried joining a fraternity, Lambda Phi Epsilon, to gain more friends. He had lots of fun and made it to the last week of pledging, known as hell week. During that time, the other members were trying to mold Steven into a new/better person. Steven decided to quit part way through hell week as he felt that the fraternity was not important enough to compromise is morals and ethics. Steven need a new place to go, one where his friends were.
Steven transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This was a Mormon school and Steven wasn't a Mormon. Steven was a minority on campus in many ways. Steven remained a political science major for about a year and then switched to finance. Steven made many great friends at BYU, many of whom he still communicates with. Steven loved working and it got in the way of his education. His grades weren't very good and he was struggling. Steven's interest then changed to computers. This was the height of the .com era and Steven considered dropping out of school. Instead, he transferred to Stevens-Henager College where he became a computer science major.
At Stevens-Henager College, Steven excelled. He found his learning style and was very successful. Steven graduated with his B.S. in computer science in September 2001, and began working full-time. Steven had many jobs and near the end of 2001, Steven began the interview process with the National Security Agency. In the end, Steven didn't get the job, but it was a learning experience. The interview process lasted over 12 months, included 4 trips to Fort Meade, a polygraph test, and a skills battery test. It was hard but it was fun.
In 2002, Steven was a little bored. He wanted more out of life. This is when he went back to school, this time attending University of Phoenix. Steven completed his Masters of Science in Information Systems in July 2004. During this time, Steven had worked at McNeese State University in Louisiana and then moved back to Salt Lake to work for MassMutual. In December 2004, Steven got the bright idea of getting an MBA. Steven applied and was accepted to the University of Utah. The MBA program was tailored to Steven's learning style and he completed the program in May 2007 with a 3.69 GPA. Steven continued to work full time throughout the program. It was difficult but it was worth it. To make things more difficult, Steven met his then-to-be wife Kristin. Homework and Classes made it difficult for Steven to spend time with Kristin but it all worked out.
During the last semester of the MBA Program, Steven still wanted to learn more. He found a love for finance classes and decided to apply for the Masters in Finance program. Steven was accepted and that his where he is today. Steven expects to graduate in May 2009 and will either prepare for the GMAT again to continue his education or start a new career. He applied for the PhD program in Finance at the University of Utah but was rejected. His GMAT score was only 620, and most PhD candidates have scores of 680+.
Steven is happily employed with Intermountain Financial Group/MassMutual in Salt Lake City, Utah serving in the capicity of Compliance Assistant, Investment Associate, and Agency Technology Specialist.
Some pictures of Steven in his early years can be seen by clicking here.
