What I Learned As an Actuary by Kahari

What I Learned As an Actuary by Kahari - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

.  Last summer I was honored to be selected as an Intern for Travelers Insurance Corporation. The program was open to juniors all across the city and was very competitive. I worked in the Actuary department and I got to learn a lot about the business. Actuaries' skills are in great demand throughout the financial sector, particularly in investment, insurance and pensions. Actuaries are also increasingly employed in risk management for large companies. The future is uncertain and full of risk. Risk is the chance that an undesirable event will occur, but risk is also opportunity. That's where actuaries enter into the picture.
 
I've learned how to research the applicable accounting rules and helped write a report for a client who's acquiring a small life insurance company; I watched my mentor provide guidance over the phone to a colleague regarding the audit of an insurance company; I attended an in-house training session on the modeling of life insurance reserves; worked on a spreadsheet model to do financial projections for a client; and worked on developing some materials for several financial committees. All of those activities are representative of the various facets of an actuary’s job—research, written communications, verbal communications, on-the-job learning opportunities, technical actuarial work, and professional volunteering. I also love math and am pretty good at it, so I am able to apply my love of math and math skills to the job of an actuary.
 
Actuarial work is interdisciplinary at its core. Practicing actuaries draw upon mathematics, statistics, economics, finance, risk management, computer science, and much more to solve problems from how much insurance costs to complicated investment hedging. This is very intriguing to me and I would love to learn more! I will be engaged in creative problem solving and critical thinking on a daily basis.
 
The job of an actuary is one of the most unique in the business world and for those who love to learn something new every day. Actuarial work is smart, challenging, and creative. Your scholarship grant would allow me to learn, study and grow in this field and fulfill my goals and dreams.