How I turned $15,000 into $1.2m during the pandemic – then lost it all

Investing in risky stocks gave me the illusion of control in a time of uncertainty - until it derailed my entire life

I kept the news in all the way out of the terminal until halfway through the airport parking garage, which was as far as I could hold it. It was the kind of announcement that was too voluminous for the inside of a car, so I blurted it out to my parents in the open air in a half-mumble, half-laugh.

So, umm, I turned $15,000 into $1.2m in the past year."