STEM Stars Summer Orientation Recap

Our STEM Stars just wrapped up their Summer Orientations in the past few weeks. Together the Stars engaged in real-life actuarial process activities, learned about the day-to-day life as an actuary, and explored career paths in the actuarial field.

To kick off the meetings, our newest cohort, Cohort 3 (incoming freshmen), completed their first virtual orientation at the end of July. During the event, the Stars had the opportunity to meet fellow cohort members, learn about the resources available within the program, dive deeper into the actuarial profession, and participate in community-building activities, like the Family Feud game shown in the photo below. Congratulations to this amazing group on taking their first step in this four-year journey!

Last year, Cohort 1 (rising juniors) of the STEM Stars Program had their first in-person meeting. This year, it was their turn to reconnect virtually for their summer orientation! The Stars met with the full STEM Stars team (Reko, Daisy, and Virginette) to review their upcoming program year requirements and enjoy a fun team-building activity together!

Lastly, Cohort 2 (rising sophomores) had their first in-person orientation in Chicago, IL. It was a fun-filled week where several Stars had the opportunity to meet their mentors in person, connect with members from our Corporate Advisory Council companies, explore the city of Chicago, and strengthen their bonds as a cohort. Cohort 2 is featured in the first photo on top.

Jenna Itwaru, a STEM Star student, expressed her gratitude for her experience at the summer orientation.

“This has been the highlight of my summer, and I had so much fun finally meeting others that are part of the program in person and learning so much about everyone’s personalities. It was interesting to me to learn about everyone’s different places of origination and how we all have such different but interesting backgrounds. This week has been put together very well, and I also want to thank everyone that came to speak with us and present. I’m excited to dive into many things brought to my attention during information sessions and can’t wait to continue my progress towards this career!”

The TAF staff and Cohort 2 would like to give another huge shoutout to all the Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) guests who joined us during our in-person orientation!

• From Travelers: Stephanie Lerner and Andrew Brady
• From State Farm: Masha Kuznetsova, Derek Meyer, and Peter Park
• From Oliver Wyman: Henry Wu
• From PwC: Greg Smith and Matthew Zilligen
• From Venerable: Yang Jing
• From Milliman: Deep Patel

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the staff, students, partners, and supporters who took part in the Summer Orientations. It’s always a joy to see new connections being made and existing ones growing stronger each year. We look forward to another incredible program year ahead!

Learn more about our Stars here.