Saint Mary’s Student Makes Profit From Trading

Student athlete Trill Guzman works as a trader on the Foreign Exchange Market through iMarketsLive in order to grow finances during school.

By Lenin O’Mahony
News Reporter

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter the lifestyles of students across the country, changing how we socialize, learn, and work. However, as we all know, necessity is the mother of innovation, and this especially rings true at Saint Mary's College of California, where students are finding new and modern ways to work and stay busy during the ever constant lockdowns and stay at home orders. 

For many students, in person work is either unavailable or simply too exposed and dangerous for themselves and at risk family members. For those same students however, the costs of living and the costs of obtaining an education are simply too great for unemployment to be an option. Students have car payments, book costs, housing fees, insurance, and medical bills to cover. They cannot afford to sit back on non-existent savings, which is an extremely frustrating situation to be in while facing the restrictions of living during a worldwide pandemic. 

Trill Guzman, an on campus student and Division 1 rugby player for Saint Mary’s, has been working as a trader on the Foriegn Exchange Market as a way to make money while keeping busy at college. He does this alongside an education company called iMarketsLive. The goal of this company is to educate everyday people on how the Foriegn Exchange Market works, so that they can make money from their own phones.

Guzman explained to me how he works with this company on this unique market in order to gain financial freedom as a full time college student and athlete. Guzman explains the process as such, claiming, “Let’s say I want to visit England and I come with $1000. Unfortunately, I can’t use the U.S. dollar in England because they have a different currency called the Great British Pound. In order for me to purchase items and enjoy my time in England, I must change my U.S. dollar to pounds.” 

Guzman continues, explaining, “So, I go to the bank in England and in return for my $1000, they give me £700(pounds). But, then I decided to come back to America and all I have is the  £700(pounds) that I received from England. I then go to an American bank to convert the money. However, instead of giving me $1000 back, they give me $1,200. You were actually able to gain an additional $200. How does this work? Did the bank make a mistake and give me an extra $200? The answer is no. What actually happened was the value of the U.S. dollar had increased since the last time I used it. This is how we make money.” 

Guzman works on Zoom calls through the company where small traders can imitate the trades of professionals, and through this process it's possible to learn about the market and actually make money alongside bigger traders. This process of predicting currency changes and investing based on those predictions can be a high risk, high reward situation, but it's open to anyone who would be willing to dedicate their time and energy. 

“I started trading last May and since then I have been able to accumulate over 5 figures of profit in less than a year and have gained financial freedom” Guzman said. 

These innovative ways to self educate, work, and live life prove that no matter how hard times get, Saint Mary’s students will continue to push forward, refusing to allow the limits the world puts on them to hold them down. We are a community of dedicated students, athletes, and Gaels, who will look to inspire and lead with courage regardless of circumstance. 

Authors Note: If you have any interest in the work Trill Guzman does, you can contact him at [email protected]