President’s Address

A warm welcome to you all, my name is Thevindu Wijesundara, and I am fortunate enough to be the president of the Actuarial Student Society in 2023. I look forward to meeting many of you throughout the year and hope that we will provide value to you in your journey to become an actuary.

This year, our goal is to instil a better sense of community. There are three main levels of community that I want to expand upon. Firstly, is our community as a cohort. We are all on this journey as Actuarial students at the University of Melbourne and the Actuarial Student Society strives to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students, to support you and bring us together through this arduous journey. Come along to our social events to connect with your peers and build lasting connections.

Next, is our community within the university. While it may not be as obvious, it is also important to create a sense of community within our university. The actuarial profession is adaptable, and the skillset of an actuary can be used in a variety of settings. As such, we want to be connected to other faculties and parts of the university so that you are empowered to make your next step into wherever you want to go.

Finally, the broadest community is that of the entire actuarial field, which encompasses our sponsors. One of our core aims is to build bridges between sponsor firms and actuarial students, and this is a key part of instilling that wider community. All of us as actuaries are at different stages of our unique journey and by connecting with those further along, we can launch future careers and better our own paths. Come to the many networking events we run throughout the year where you can build these connections and gain valuable insight into the industry.

I hope this has excited you for the future to come, we are all in command of our journey and the Actuarial Student Society is here to support you on that journey. I wish you all the best for 2024.