What an amazing year it has been for the Actuarial Club! It’s hard to believe the way things have carried out in the past few months, but despite that I will say it again: what a year it has been!
As stated on our club’s website, “The Actuarial Club’s mission is to provide our members with a better understanding of the actuarial field and to prepare them for full-time employment.” True, the first and foremost objective of the club is to educate, prepare, and empower members to help them succeed post-graduation. We are all familiar with that and I wouldn’t really be bragging much if I said the club hosted over 15 employer presentations (3 of which were conducted virtually due to COVID-19) covering a wide variety of topics, including numerous industry leaders (whom we are very grateful to!). But something I do want to highlight is the club’s first ever “Fundamentals of Actuarial Science” presentation. This event was held with the goal of providing fundamental knowledge about the actuarial profession and addressing major questions on actuarial roles/ categories/exams etc. While this may sound like a very obvious and necessary event, this presentation was largely executed by the club leadership (and Kirk) which helped tie in many first-hand experiences and explain concepts from a student’s perspective. Although I can’t exactly quantify the success of this event, I can vouch how this experience likely enhanced engagement during employer presentations/classes, and more importantly, boosted the confidence of members.
Onto some bigger and noteworthy highlights (bragging points) of the year:
- We created our very own club website, started an Instagram account, and established our presence on LinkedIn. By doing so we effectively opened up new communication channels for members, prospective students, and even employers. We not only successfully launched these three new outlets, but also managed to draw hundreds of followers and keep them virtually engaged. This, accompanied by our weekly newsletter and Facebook media, has made our communication and marketing strong than ever!
- Volunteering has become an integral and dominant part of the club. I am not kidding when I say this: volunteer engagement is up 300-400% from previous years and is by far the highest in club history! This year’s volunteer efforts had 80–90+ members working with great positive energy towards the betterment of the community. The club is also proud to have participated in the Schools of Hope Tutoring Program helping local middle school students from varying technical backgrounds to improve their math skills.
- We created more leaders – or at the very least we created more opportunities. This year we expanded our existing leadership base by introducing 3 new committees with each of the 5 committees working with a VP to specialize in particular areas and lines of duties. This, along with increased involvement from class representatives, helped us brainstorm, analyze, manage, and reflect to a far greater extent. We were able to think more and do more. But most importantly, we expanded our club leadership and had over 30 members join the officers to create value for the club and move forward together.
- We also organized some wonderful socials this year including bonfire at Picnic Point, ice-skating, International Festival at the Overture Center, and attending a Badger women’s basketball game. Shout out to Risk Management and Insurance Society for co-hosting 2 very exciting socials with us – Halloween social and Jackbox party game nights!
- Our mentorship program continued its strong momentum with over 125 members (a little more than a third of the club) participating through mentorship families and forming solid ties by attending fun trivia socials and valuable advising sessions.
- Other major highlights include increased efforts towards diversity & inclusion (we co-hosted “Diversity in Business” with 10 other BBA orgs), office space in the undergraduate lounge along with weekly office hours (7.5 hours every week), and our appreciation video for the medical community (please watch and share).
All in all, we hosted and participated in over 50 events this academic year! But that’s not my biggest bragging point as president. My most proud point is that we were able to do all this because of our members and their commitment to learn, grow, and strive for excellence. Thank you, Actuarial Club members, for your sincerest involvement in our collective endeavors and for strengthening the actuarial community!
I would also like to thank Kirk, Aaron, Danny, Jess, Matt & Saad for pouring their hearts and souls into this club!! You are perhaps the most dedicated and hardworking set of people I have worked with, and I applaud you for all that you do for our actuarial community. Likewise, a huge thanks to our class representatives, leadership committee members, mentorship leads, job outreach, and sports coordinators for your exemplary efforts!!
I cannot emphasize how extraordinary of a program we have here at UW-Madison, and my sincerest thanks to the entire Risk and Insurance department, both faculty and staff, for all that you do for us! Also, thank you, generous employers and alumni, for your contributions and for investing in our future!
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