Highlights from conversations with Vincent Xue, Founder of the Ivey Venture Capital Club, and Nicholas Lam, Founder of Nodes, on how to maximize time at university.
Throughout the year, I’ve garnered a deep gratitude for the fortune of living with three fifth-years. We experience a steep learning curve in university, both in career and in identity; as someone near the bottom of it, hearing perspectives from the top, like Nick’s, is truly eye-opening. Vince would join our conversations some evenings. Pushing aside coffee chat formalities, embracing the spontaneity of our talks paved the way for openness and deliberation. A lack of intent meant venturing beyond the typical script, allowing conversations to unfold into examinations of the how’s, why’s, and what-if’s they encountered during their time at Western.
With graduation in one month, both reflected on their university careers with a bittersweet reminiscence: Vince did not attend Ivey and yet he grew the Ivey Venture Capital Club (IVCC) into one of the biggest communities on campus, in just two years. Alongside, he has been credited for encouraging students to make decisions that resulted in unprecedented success, extending an influence that many make their lifetime goal (albeit achieved much later down the line – Vince is only 22). Nick embodies mentorship, passionately leading first- and second-years through coding projects and allocating his limited personal time towards helping eager students. And more impressively, amid mentoring many, attending events as panelists, building start-ups, and still writing exams like the rest of us, both are simultaneously working their ‘dream’ jobs.
The How
Upon receiving his offer to work for Gather AI, Nick didn’t feel lucky; he felt deserving. Although he didn’t have the foresight at the beginning of university (no one does), he realized around third year that to retain information, you need to “soak it in,” “get granular,” and “do it right”; not cheat yourself into taking shortcuts. It helps you ramp up much easier, turning into what he called a “snowball effect” in learning.
Many students, like Vince (who transferred from economics, to computer science, to philosophy) or Nick (who went from economics to computer science), change paths multiple times during university. Aside from the variabilities in your path or preference, you can control the non-variable of putting your best foot forward, always. Their advice is to position yourself as someone who has absolutely maximized every opportunity, every conversation, that precedes that acceptance letter. Do not anticipate failure, and in the event that it occurs, embrace it, tuck it into your back pocket, and move on (explored more under The What-If). That way you have no regrets.
Leaving behind notable legacies at Western, Nick says he “[doesn’t] want to feel like [he] made it,” with Vince in total agreement. It’s not a dissatisfaction with their ‘normal’ or even a negative, insatiable hunger for greater success; rather, they welcome growth and house an unrelenting curiosity. They want to learn more about what the world has to offer – they want to be subject to its daunting uncertainty and the self-confrontation that accompanies – not control their reality to remain an unthreatening, stagnant bubble. Their reluctance to graduate hit me hard knowing that my experience, right now, is what they’d give anything to relive. And to be wallowing in the depths of exam-studying, holed up in my room most days, makes me think I need to be doing more.
The Why
In an X (formerly known as Twitter) post1, written by Vince:
[…] the one thing I urge all university students to try and do is to ask yourself why. Why you're pursuing the things that you are. Whether what you're working towards is worth it for you, and for nobody else. You have this one life. Follow your curiosities, explore them to their depths. Find people with similar interests and spend time with them. Maybe even build a community around it. There's no better place to do this than at university.
As Vince put it, we “live in a signal-driven world.” I cared so much about what others thought and truly believed that if I had a big-name company on my LinkedIn, no one could ever think I was anything but smart. I thought signaling as an Investment Banking Analyst/Associate Consultant/Engineer/Whatever Title would sell me, as a person.
And that’s flawed. At most, it would sell me as a labourer, because we’re so much deeper than our jobs. It’s an obvious fact but one that needs constant reminding; the urgency of finding work tends to eclipse other facets of our intricate and beautiful lives. Vince’s post invited a deep introspection that I believe everyone chasing a cookie-cutter career should read, and then revisit over and over again until they find true fulfilment, whether it takes shape of the cookie cutter or not.
That’s not to say that banking/consulting/another appraised career is not a good path. It’s probably one of the best stepping-stones (or end goal) you’ll ever set foot on and is what I, and many others, are working so hard towards. But it’s not the end-all-be-all for most. When everyone tells you to disregard what other people think, I truly believe that it takes a lot more than hearing and even understanding the words to employ the philosophy it carries.
The What-If
So, after you’ve determined your dream job – after weighing practicality with passion with talent with ego – how do you maximize your chances of getting it? And more importantly, what do you do if you don’t? Vince went about it erring on the side of risk. His interest and ambition drove him to chase a less-trodden path in venture capital, and he advises a) to follow your risk tolerance, within a reasonable extent, and b) to be “equipped not sporadic.”
However, Vince also admits “humans are finite” (so many good quotes from this guy). The extent to which we can control is limited and sometimes it feels so, so unfair to forfeit something we fought tooth and nail for. I asked Nick and Vince how they cope with failure. They said it’s not about failing; it’s about what you do after the fact. How resilient you are. And most importantly, they tell themselves: “I’m going to make this the best thing that’s happened to me.”
The Takeaway
These two have undoubtedly left their mark on campus, whether it’s being known as the Founder of the Ivey Venture Capital Club, the Founder of Nodes, a helpful mentor, or simply someone exceptionally smart. I think what most fail to recognize, and credit, is the nuanced philosophy that weaves through their lives, their successes being a byproduct — it’s the stuff that probably won’t come up during a coffee chat but lays a foundation for why you would want to have one with them in the first place. Of course, university isn’t the only place we grow and I’m sure they will continue to forge and re-forge their outlook on life.
Regardless, at the core – being your authentic self and making time for the things you love, being so hard working/passionate that you’re not afraid to own your efforts, and caring a little less about what others think – their philosophies are timeless. It not only helps us see more colour in our greyscale everyday but also encourages us to access a whole new palette.
I urge you to visualize what your ideal life would look like. Not for the sake of changing whatever you’re pursuing immediately – in our imperfect world, we must make considerations for financial sustenance, familial obligations, attaining baseline knowledge, etc. – but rather, to get to know yourself a little better. To pinpoint what you’re really working for.
“I truly believe in the idea that happiness comes from an internal state of self confrontation and discovery,” Vince writes. “So do yourself the favour by doing the internal work earlier vs. later when the stakes become higher. You might end up thanking yourself for it when you graduate :)”