What Some SD83 Students Actuary Did at SFU this Week
Twenty-One SD83 students made the numbers add up with a unique trip to the lower mainland this week.
The Grade 10-12 students from JL Jackson, Salmon Arm, Eagle River and AL Fortune Secondaries travelled to Burnaby’s Simon Fraser University to spend a day on campus learning about careers in the statistical, data and actuary sciences. Sponsorship of the overnight trip to the lower mainland was generously provided by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA), the profession’s national professional organization, and SFU’s Faculty of Science. Actuaries are professionals that use math and statistics to assess and manage financial risk for their clients. For students to be able to attend this session, they needed to show a passion for math and score well to excellent in upper-level math courses.
Students left Wednesday afternoon on a chartered bus for the event but the bus was tied up for nearly an hour west of Kamloops with a surprise CVSE (Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement) search. Following a clean report from the enforcement officers, the group travelled onto the campus where students quickly checked into their dorms, had supper and then raced to the closest beach for a bit of night time recreation at Barnet Marine Park. Here, students explored the area. Some went swimming in the ocean while others played frisbee, bocce or just walked the beach and explored the marine life.
By Thursday morning, students got down to work in the classroom. They first learned about the different career opportunities that exist with math in such fields as statistics and the data and actuary sciences. Then, SFU Statistics Professor Dr. Owen Ward and his undergraduate students walked SD83 pupils through a couple of exercises. The first one examined how to ensure accurate sampling of a population for such cases for determining public mood among provincial and national political parties. Ward walked students through an estimation exercise identifying triangles on a sheet of paper and having them use math to estimate a nearly accurate count.
The students then learned briefly about the history of Pi and how humans can master mathematical randomness better than a computer or even AI. They did this by dropping a pencil twenty times on a sheet of paper with a circle inside a square. It turns out all of the students random estimations of Pi were indeed closer to the mark than a bot demonstrating the same randomness.
There was also a time where students had to delve into some deep calculus to understand probability. There was no doubt that those Grade 12 students in the group that had taken or are taken Calculus 12 had a leg up on understanding the concept or language better than the Grade 10’s in the audience.
After a break, Barbara Sanders from SFU’s Faculty of Actuary Sciences took over with a simulation game to help explain the complex nature of auto insurance pricing. After some front loading of some information in a question and answer sessions with students, the group was divided into two groups. The Grade 12’s set up three auto insurance companies where they competed for drivers while trying to maintain profits and pay out insurance claims. The Grade 11’s and 10’s were drivers and were given an envelope outlining their driver profile on the outside while storing the end results of their driving record after one year of insurance on the inside of the envelope. When the students started shopping for auto insurance, the companies could only ask two questions to determine what kind of coverage they could give: the driver’s number of claims in the past, the number of violation tickets, the car’s make or model and the school grades of the drivers. In the end, one company made a large profit, another made a small profit and the third had significant losses, primarily due to a costly claim from one of their clients.
Following lunch, the SD83 students were able to talk with six current SFU students about their university journeys thus far and the challenges and the triumphs they face in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science’s three bachelor’s programs. It was structured in a speed-dating format where the students had only five minutes with the university students to ask their questions. They were then toured around the SFU campus before ending the afternoon with a panel of actuarial professionals. The panelist were able to share their journey to their career, what they do in a day, the hours they work, remote work and how much money they make among other questions that the students had.
This is the penultimate SD83 field Trip for the school year. Our last trip will be next week as students have a chance to check out the M.I.N.E Conference in Kamloops on Wednesday. SD83 Careers wishes to thank all of its partners and the students for another successful year of experiential learning outside the school’s four walls. We look forward to more activities outside of school in the 2025/26 school year. If you have any ideas for experiential learning in careers, please get hold of George Richard via text or phone at 778-824-1188 or email grichard@sd83.bc.ca.