By Wyatt Pedersen, 2025 OWA Summer Intern
With summer coming to a close, the key begins to turn for many students like myself as we step back into college life. Internships come to a close, school friendships rekindle and excitement for opportunity fills the air.
This past weekend I moved back into my dorm room on UC Berkeley’s campus in preparation for the new school year. With the hauling boxes, catching up with friends and lining up coffee chats for club recruitment season, I already felt like I was in full sprint-mode again. Summer hasn’t even ended, and yet the rhythm of rushing from one thing to the next has picked right back up.
On my way home, I made a pit stop at my favorite brunch spot: Baker and Commons. For the first time that day, I took a second for myself – not to complete a goal or accomplish something, but rather to take a step back and simply enjoy one of my favorite scones. I just sat with my coriander scone, watching students lug suitcases across College Ave, letting myself pause. It felt a little strange to slow down, but also grounding.
That pause reminded me of something I’ve seen during my time at OWA while I was shadowing in the Financial Planning department. Progress doesn’t always come from doing the most. Just like students (myself included) racing to get ahead, investors feel this pressure to chase that next move, to react to market swings or tweak allocations, constantly looking for what’s next so they can beat the markets. Sometimes, however, genuine value comes from stepping back: reviewing what’s already been put into place, making sure plans still reflect current goals, and appreciating the progress that’s been made.
At OWA, I’ve witnessed first-hand how turning that pause into practice makes a real difference. It gives clients space to reflect, recalibrate, and ultimately move forward with more confidence and purpose. As I head into a busy semester, that moment outside Baker & Commons was a good reminder, both in life and finance, that while moving forward is important, it is the pauses that give us clarity to move in the right direction.
