Accountancy firm Armadillo Management Company has had summer students before but none as young as David Gilbert.

The 15-year-old Berkeley Institute student became an intern at Armadillo this summer.

“We have had students who were in university studying accounting or business, but never someone under the age of 16,” owner Tanya Franks said.

She met David through an acquaintance and was impressed by his determination.

“I actually asked David to work with us last year, but he was 14 then and still a bit too young,” she said. “He wants to be an actuary, and I wanted to give him the experience of being in an office.”

David learnt about actuarial science while researching different jobs that would match his passion for mathematics.

He also wanted to work in the comfort of an office.

“It beats packing groceries,” he said.

He is about to go into his second year at Berkeley, where his strongest subject is mathematics.

During his first days at Armadillo, he was quite nervous.

“Once I got used to it and spoke with the people in the office, it became really enjoyable,” he said.

David spent his time scanning documents to e-mail and then filing them on to QuickBooks, the accountancy application.

“He has been learning how to post payables to QuickBooks, which is a big deal,” Ms Franks said.

The experience convinced him that he is on the right career track.

“I have enjoyed learning in general,” he said. “It has been a really good experience.”

The work was not very difficult to David.

“I caught on pretty quickly,” he said. “I was taught the basics within the first four days.”

The hardest thing for the teenager was just remembering to take a break. He had to be reminded to go get his lunch.

“I like setting goals for myself,” he said. “I like to reach those goals in a day. Sometimes I set a goal to do 200 different documents in one day. I did reach that goal. I always reach my goal. If I do not, then I will finish it the next day and set a different goal, maybe to do even more.”

During the school year, he loves playing sports, including football and cricket.

His hope is to get into the dual enrolment programme at Berkeley, which will allow him to take courses at the Bermuda College while he is still in secondary school.