Vinay Somashekar is a third year Business Economics student at University of California, Irvine. He is originally from Fountain Valley, CA. Prior to college, Vinay graduated with honors of distinction from Fountain Valley High School in 2009. He was selected as National Merit Finalist by the National Merit Scholarship Foundation. In high school, Vinay participated in Mock Trial, National Honor Society, and founded and was president of the Indian Club.

A major part of Vinay’s life from childhood until graduation was Boy Scouting. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 13, which makes him the second youngest Eagle Scout in Orange County. He immediately went on to earn his Eagle palms as well. Due to this achievement at a young age, the National Eagle Scout Association contacted Vinay and asked him to deliver a keynote speech at the upcoming Eagle Recognition Dinner. After a successful speech in front of 500 new Eagle Scouts and Scouting Leaders, NESA later went on to nominate him to become the Youth President of the Orange County Chapter. Vinay accepted this rare opportunity, and was able to emcee the same dinner the following year. Being active in his troop, as well as the many experiences that came along with Scouting in general, Vinay was able to drastically improve his leadership experience which revolves around teamwork and positive attitude. Scouting has definitely had a major impact on shaping Vinay’s character.

Outside of school and Scouting, Vinay’s main extracurricular activity since childhood has been singing. Since the age of 5, Vinay has trained in Indian Classical Music (Carnatic). Due to his love for singing, he channeled this passion after coming to college in order to become captain of UC Irvine’s Premiere South Asian A Cappella team “Andaaz.” He thoroughly enjoys performing and competing with the team year round.

Professionally, Vinay aspires to land a career in finance and investment, specifically in either private equity or financial risk management. He hopes to earn a CFA after graduating, and wants to pursue an MBA after some valuable professional experience in the corporate world.

In his free time, Vinay is an avid basketball fan. He plays recreationally and competitively as often as he can, and religiously follows the Los Angeles Lakers. His favorite NBA players are Kobe Bryant and J.R. Smith. Vinay is also a passionate cricket fan, and follows international matches year round. As part of the UCI Cricket Team, he enjoys playing other collegiate teams in the region.

In addition to sports, Vinay loves to travel to and explore foreign countries. So far, he has been to India, England, South Africa, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada. Due to his passion for traveling, he hopes to study abroad sometime during his years in college. All in all, Vinay hopes to enjoy his upcoming years at UCI, and wants to look back with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment by the time he graduates. He believes the key this satisfaction is being able to balance a personal, academic, social, and professional life.