Danika Lipman is a fourth-year student at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. She is double majoring in Actuarial Science and Statistics and is looking to pursue a career teaching Actuarial Science. We spoke with Danika in May 2019.

Tell us one thing about you that’s not on your resume.

This summer, I’m taking my motorcycle to Fernie, British Columbia, and I’m living there and mountain biking all summer.

My dad used to have a motorcycle when he was younger, and I’ve just always loved them, so I finally got one last year. I love it. Riding is the best feeling in the world. I’ve been going to Fernie since I was maybe two years old, so I’ve just always been in the mountains doing things.

I see myself staying in Calgary for a long time, so I’m really glad I chose U of C.

What has your experience at the University of Calgary been like?

I really like U of C. There are lots of clubs you can join, the campus is very nice, and I made my best friend here. All around, it’s been a really good experience. Statistics and actuarial science both have great professors here, so that’s been really good. I’m a TA at the U of C as well, and I love doing that.

What other schools were you considering, and why did you choose the University of Calgary?

When I applied to college, I only looked at Canadian schools since I wanted to stay in Canada. There aren’t a ton of schools that have actuarial science, so that narrowed the search down. On top of that, I was initially looking to pursue a double degree with arts, but then I later switched to a double major with statistics. When I wanted to do the double degree, Calgary was the only place that offered that.

I see myself staying in Calgary for a long time, so I’m really glad I chose U of C.

What influenced you to pursue an actuarial science program?

I have these family friends, and their daughter and her husband are actually both actuaries, and that’s how I first heard about actuarial science and figured out what it was. I knew I wanted to go into something math related, and I’ve always loved math. Actuarial science is just such an interesting topic, and hearing my family friends talk about it, and the fact that mortalities are on a table—I just thought it was so interesting! They got me into it, and as soon as I took my first class, I loved it.

Why should other students consider a focus in actuarial science?

The best way to describe actuarial science is it’s applied statistics in an insurance field. So if you have an interest in statistics and math, then it’s definitely interesting to do actuarial science. It’s also interesting because not a lot of people know what actuarial science is, so it’s very elite in a way. It’s almost like you know some secret nobody else knows about, so I like that part of it.

What has been your experience with the actuarial science program at your school?

My experience has been good. I don’t know how it is at other schools, but you don’t actually take an actuarial science course here until your second year. The first one I took was Financial Math. That was not my favorite, but it didn’t steer me away from actuarial science. Then I took Life Contingencies, and I really liked that course. I thought that course was really interesting.

At U of C, we have three actuarial science professors, and they’re very good. They’re good in office hours, and you can tell that they just want you to know what’s going on, so I like that. We also have tutorials, and those are really helpful. I find that the TAs tend to be really good. I think in order to pursue a master’s or a PhD in actuarial science, you have to really enjoy it, right? And you can tell the TAs do, so I like that aspect of it.

We also have The University of Calgary Actuarial Society. They have a lot of resources, like old tests you can take from all the different actuarial science and statistics courses, so I used those to study. The club also has a lot of networking and events where people from different companies come. And I know the club is really good about helping students get co-ops.

What is your favorite class so far and why?

I just took a stats course. It was a sampling course, so it was all about surveying and sampling, and how to properly sample. We had a project where we did our own survey and our own analysis on it, and I really enjoyed that class. I thought that was really fun.

The class was very not controlled, in a way. We could do research on literally anything. We could do any sampling method, just as long as we were doing it properly. That was a lot of fun, and it was taught by one of the best professors at U of C, so it was great.

What has been most challenging about studying actuarial science?

Actuarial science has definitely been challenging, but I think it’s manageable. The workload for studying is definitely very heavy. I’d say the hardest part about studying actuarial science is the notation. Wrapping your head around when to use which notation, what it means, how the sums work, etc.—that’s probably the trickiest part.

What are your future aspirations or career plans?

I actually want to be an actuarial science professor. I love teaching. I tutor lots of people. I also am a TA. I’ve TA-ed statistics and linear algebra at the University of Calgary, and I love doing it. I love having office hours, and I just love teaching.

I’d like to do my master’s right away, but whether I take a break and work in industry and then do a PhD, I’m not sure about yet. I’m just going to see where that takes me.

I’m not opposed to working in industry—it does sound very interesting. The friends I have who are actuaries, they’re both kind of in different strains. One of them does private consulting, and one of them works for an actual insurance company. I think consulting would be more appealing to me, if I were to go into industry, but I’m not really sure. For now, I just love learning, and I want to keep doing school.

What advice would you give someone interested in the insurance field?

Definitely use the SOA website’s resources. I’ve used the SOA website a lot, and the SOA’s notes I’ve found are actually really good. They’re very clear and helpful, and they’re free. Definitely look into that.

Also, take the SOA exams as you go. I’ve only done Exam P so far, but I’m going to take Exam STAM. Definitely take those exams as you go and take the time to study for them because they are tricky.

Also, I think people are always so afraid to go to professors’ office hours, but you should definitely go, even if you just want to ask them about actuarial science in general and learn more about what it is because the professors know best and have probably been in the industry. So I definitely suggest talking to your professors.

Do you have any favorite books, websites, or media that you would recommend for someone interested in insurance?

The SOA has really good resources. And then there’s the life contingencies textbook—Actuarial Mathematics for Life Contingent Risks by Dickson, Hardy, and Waters. I find that textbook and the practice problems in it super helpful.