Optiver is a psychological battle. You walk in hyper-aware of the talent density and can't help but feel like you're the dumbest person in the room. All the time.
I spent most of theory trying hard to stay alert and understand what was going on while knowing I had no clue. Solving exercises with the others was fun. Playing trading games was fun. Picking the minds of literal geniuses was fun. But staying awake in class was absolutely not it. They should hand out nootropics and three cans of Red Bull a day to interns if they want to sustain the same training model.
Simulated trading was fun. I had no idea what to do on the first day because I fell asleep during the briefing. My eyes were open, but I was asleep. I clicked a bunch of buttons thinking, fuck it, we ball. I caught up on what it all meant with my friends that evening. After that, trading was just make money, don't lose money, don't fake the money by manipulating the vol estimate, and glaze Prateek Prateek partly because his name was Prateek Prateek and partly because he was a good trader. I mostly did what felt sensible in my gut. Did I mention I had no idea what I was doing? Apparently I made a lot of fake money.
The research project was alright. It was open-ended, and if something is open-ended and the deadline is three weeks, I tend to freeze. Especially when I'm already dealing with impostor syndrome, terrible sleep from trying things legal in Amsterdam, and a consciousness stuck in survival mode. I wrote a lot of code, made a lot of charts, and still didn't understand much. My project guide came over on the last day, looked at the data and charts, told me the insights, and said I should be proud. Lies. I also broke my "whee-up-down desk" because I pushed down when it couldn't go further down.
The breakfast spread is world-class, the game area is sick, and the people are terrifying and awe-inspiring. Friday evening drinks are fun. Amsterdam is really cool and lives up to the hype. I didn't indulge in red-light activities, and if I did I would still deny it. I visited Belgium too. Made some friends, who may or may not remain so, though we aren't really in touch.