CCA Member Spotlight

I did not dream of being an actuary from a young age. And honestly, anyone who says that, I would say they are lying. Math always came easy to me, so I majored in Math, not having a clue what I was going to do when I graduated college. Not knowing what career path I was going to take, I decided to stay in school to get my Masters degree (also in Math). During winter break before my last semester, there was a posting on the bulletin board (yes, an actual paper bulletin board) for an actuarial career fair, that I ended up attending. An adjunct professor in the math department discouraged me from pursuing a career as an actuary, since it was “too hard” and had too many exams. I had to prove him wrong. I met my current employer at that career fair, and after a few rounds of interviews, accepted a position to start after I graduated.

Many people pause and say “what?” A number of people have thought I worked with birds, likely confusing it with aviary. I’ve also been told actuaries are accountants on steroids – I’ll take that as a compliment.

• Ask a lot of questions
• Always be willing to learn something new
• Don’t say “that’s not my job”
• Take those exams early in your career, life gets busier
• Make sure you enjoy what you do.