resume

1. Arjun Dhawan
arjun_dhawan@outlook.com +971585866999 arjundhawan.net
Villa E-95, Emirates Hills, Dubai
Education (K – 12)
Dubai College 2014-present
Repton School Dubai 2013-2014
Bangkok Patana School 2008-2013
IPC Kindergarten, Bangkok 2005-2008
Standardized Testing
ACT 35 (36 superscore)
SAT Math Level II 800
AP Psychology 5
AP Calculus BC 4
Honors and Awards
• The Marshall Society Essay Competition: Commendation 2020
o Received a commendation among a record number of entries in 2020
o Submitted an essay on the topic “In a time of crisis and shortage should essentials, such as toilet paper, be subject to price controls to prevent price
gouging?”
• British Physics Olympiad: Gold Award 2019
• United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Senior Mathematics Challenge: Silver Award 2019
• London Institute of Banking and Finance Student Investor Challenge: 32nd Place out of over 5000 teams 2018
o Invested £100,000 of virtual money on the UK’s stock exchange as a team of 3
o Through Strategic market research, understanding of factors affecting stock prices, and following the market, we made profitable investments
• Botball Competition Middle East Round: Judge’s Choice Award and 4th place 2018
o I was the programming leader for my High School’s Botball team
o Team based competition where we create autonomous robots to fight against each other and complete challenges
o Received Judge’s Choice award for innovative problem solving and placed 4th overall
• World Scholar’s Cup Global Round: 4th Place Individual Debate, 1st Place Team Debate, 2nd Place Overall 2017
• British Biology Challenge: Bronze Award 2019
• Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award 2019
Leadership Initiatives
• Founded Next Generation Nations Club 2020
o Founded and hosted the Next Generation Nations club during summer 2020, addressing social, economic, environmental, and many global issues that
challenge humanity and the progress of societies around the world.
• Model UN Secretariat 2018-present
o Under-Secretary General for 2 years
o Teach debate style, organize conferences, and help smooth operations and logistics of the club
• Botball Team Programming Leader 2018-2019
o Helped teach concepts of computational thinking and programming in C to younger students
o Placed 4th overall and won Judge’s Choice
• Online GCSE Coaching 2017-2018
o Chosen to be tutor in Economics, Physics, and Computer science on an online chat room for GCSE revision on discord
o Achieved this position despite being in 9th grade, often teaching students older than myself
o Helped with conceptual understanding and exam technique
https://www.reddit.com/r/GCSE/ - now at 23.9k members
• Lead Percussionist in Concert Band 2017-2019
o Performed in multiple concerts, school plays, and private events
o Trained my successor for when I left the band
Work Experience and Research
• Algante Technologies Internship June 2019 - August 2019
o Developed a machine learning algorithm that predicts stock prices and can make investments on the Indian Stock Exchange
o Learned about factors controlling financial markets and artificial intelligence
o Developed my lateral thinking and problem-solving skills
• Xen Capital Internship February 2019 - March 2019
o Shadowed the co-founder throughout the company’s startup process
o Key participant in discussions specifically on the blockchain aspect relating to security
o Attended multiple meetings with outside industry experts
• Higher Project Qualification 2019
o Selected to pilot the Higher Project Qualification program, and worked on the topic “Is it Ethically and Legally acceptable for governments to monitor the
world’s citizens on the internet?”
o Awarded an A grade
• Extended Project Qualification Ongoing
o Writing on the topic “Whether or not the fourth industrial revolution will benefit humanity overall”
o Focusing on technological unemployment and the effects on people, firms, society, government, and global politics.
• Research Papers 2020
o “Is a greater degree of commercialization in our lives socially beneficial?”, focuses on the efficiency that markets bring, unfairness, how markets corrupt,
and commodity fetishism.
o “What is the socially efficient level of crime?”
o “The gig economy is a great opportunity to increase women’s participation in the labor market by allowing more flexibility. Discuss.”
• “War On Opinion” Blog
To find voice to my ideas, I started this blog called the “War on Opinion” and have written about topics close to my heart, such as late-stage capitalism, the case
against defunding the police, and if inequality is really a problem.
Extracurriculars

2. • Model UN 2017-2020
o Participated and chaired in multiple conferences over the past 4 years
o Won a best delegate award
• Dubai Keynes Society 2017-2020
o Students and external speakers give presentations on economics and politics related topics on a weekly basis
o Gave a presentation on the Solow growth model in early 2020
• Philosophy Club 2020
o One of the selected founding members of the club
o Forum-style discussion of philosophers and schools of thought
o Presented on why Plato was against democracy
• MMA Red-Black Belt 2015-2019
o Red-Black belt in MMA
o Trained in complex self-defense techniques and sparring drawing from multiple martial arts
o Was on track to achieve a black belt, but it’s been delayed due to Covid-19
• Golf 2014-2019
o Part of the Black Pearl program at the Montgomerie Golf Club (Highest under-18 level)
o Represented the club in multiple competitions
Community Outreach
• Organization Coaching 2018 – 2019
o Selected to help middle school students and high school freshmen with organizational skills
o Helped with staying on top of classwork, study techniques, and time management
• Liaison For 8th Grade Students 2019 – Present
o Volunteered to provide academic and pastoral support to an 8th grade homeroom class
o Receiving training towards an ASDAN qualification by the end of this academic year - https://www.asdan.org.uk/
• Al-Noor Center for Special Needs 2019
o Classroom assistant for a class of
o Used tools such as interactive games and storytelling to help special needs students interact and assimilate into mainstream society
• Dubai Desert Classic 2016-2019
o Volunteered to be a walking scorer for the Dubai Desert Classic for 3 consecutive years
o Followed professional golfers and input their scores for TV channels broadcasting the event
Academic Courses
• PPE 101 at University of Pennsylvania 2020
o Selected to take PPE 101 with Dr Anomaly at UPenn alongside college students and finished with a grade B+
• “From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development” from Oxford University 2020 (Due to finish December 5th)
o Exploring the ideas of Industrialization, Urbanization, Growth Models, and Trade, this course attempts to answer the question of what makes a country go
from developing to developed.
• “Justice” from Harvard University 2020 (Due to finish December 1st)
o This course goes into depth about the philosophical origins of the modern Justice system, focusing on Utilitarianism, Libertarianism, Markets, Morality, and
Game Theory.
• International Law introductory course at Oxford University 2018
o During the summer of 2018, I spent 2 weeks at Oxford University exploring the legal background of Human Rights and the differences in legal systems
around the world, ending with multiple debates and mock legal scenarios.
• “Using Python for Research” from Harvard University 2017
o Learned how to conduct statistical analysis using Python
Languages and Music
• Mandarin : HSK 3 • French : GCSE Higher Level • Hindi : working knowledge
• Drums : Rockschool Grade 7 Distinction, working towards grade 8 • Piano: Grade 3
Hobbies and Interests
Fashion
o An art afficionado, I appreciate the art that surrounds us constantly,
especially Fashion
o I believe in sustainable without environmental damage
Literature
o I enjoy psychedelic, mind-bending fiction, especially the work of Haruki
Murakami and George Orwell
o Currently reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Computer Science
o Been interacting with computers throughout my childhood, building my
own PC at 13
o Understand computational thinking and logic very well – apply it to all
aspects of my learning
o Took a course from Harvard University in using python for research and
statistical analysis
Strategy Games
o I’ve been playing Civilization 5 for over 6 years
o I credit it with sparking my interest in global politics and making me join
model UN
o The game involves building a nation from scratch from 4000 BCE to 2050AD,
controlling your economy, urban planning, diplomacy with other nations,
military, scientific research, and manufacturing.
Music
o Played Piano and Drums throughout my Childhood
o Enjoy listening to Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop
Development and Welfare Economics
o Entered multiple essay competitions relating to welfare economics
o Taken an online course in understanding economic development from Oxford
University
Math
o I enjoy studying math – helps me understand the world through logical
rules and derivations
o Self-Studied for AP Calculus BC to further my own understanding of
micro and macroeconomic principles, such as deriving indifference
curves
Philosophy
o I have a great interest in what defines life itself, and what meanings we
ascribe to our lives, as well as the origins of political thinking and theory. My
favorite Philosopher is Nietzsche because of his views on morality and
religion.
o Especially enjoyed An Economic Theory of Democracy by Anthony Downs and
his theory on Rational Ignorance
Psychology
o Ted Kaczynski’s writing on the Psychology of Leftism in the Unabomber Manifesto piqued my initial interest in psychology and how that relates to politics and
economics
o I self-studied for AP Psychology because of my interest in understanding what makes people work, linking to my interest in Behavioral Economics and simply
understanding as a whole.