After scoring top marks in the Alberta Diploma examinations, former MSA valedictorian Meagan Stecko is striving for a career as an actuary.

Ms Stecko, now studying actuarial science at the University of Western Ontario, said she was surprised to come out on top of her class in the exams, but thrilled to see her hard work paying off.

“Leading up to my diploma examinations in January and June I did not expect I would do as well as I did,” she said. “I thought that I would at least do well on most of them but I did not expect to be coming out with fairly high marks.

“The exam average for each course is aimed to be low for students, so to be above it by a significant amount was almost surreal. When I received my marks back from my exams I felt ecstatic that all my hard work and dedication had paid off.”

According to MSA, Meagan received a Standard of Excellence for three out of her five diploma courses in her final year. In Meagan’s case, the school said she was near the higher end of the spectrum in those three courses.

Speaking about the results, Meagan said that she had always had a passion for mathematics and problem solving, and knew from an early age that it was something she wanted to pursue as a career.

“Both of my parents worked in a reinsurance company at the time I was considering what career path to pursue and they recommended I looked into becoming an actuary,” she said.

“After talking with many professionals and being able to sit down and see what an actuary does day to day I became very interested. I attended many networking events with professionals and did research about what it takes to become an actuary as well as the courses I would be taking in university.”

After graduation, she said she hopes to return to Bermuda to work in an insurance or reinsurance company as an actuary.

“I want to be able to work in a dynamic environment that allows to me to continue to learn on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “Pursuing a career as an actuary will allow me to combine my mathematical and problem solving skills in an intellectually satisfying career.”

Asked about her keys for success, she said: “My main advice to other students is to be organised, and to set manageable goals for yourself. I would say that being organised is key to succeeding in all your courses.

“What I would try to do is to schedule times in each day where I would either study or get homework done, this way I was able to be time efficient and make sure I wasn’t cramming last minute for a test or exam. Also, setting small goals for yourself helps tremendously, for example I would set goals on what grade I wanted on a test or an assignment which would help motivate me to either study or work harder.

“I would also tell students to find the best way of studying that works for them. I found that I preferred to be in a quiet room and either write notes on material or do practice problems. We all learn differently so it’s important that you find a way that is the most beneficial to yourself.

“Receiving the marks that I did on my diploma exams was not an easy task at all. Throughout the year I motivated myself to work extremely hard in order to be prepared for these exams, this included sacrificing many late nights and weekends studying. It took a great deal of discipline for me to push myself to work as hard as I did, and I think one of my main motivators was having support from my parents, friends and teachers.”