2009 Inaugural Actuarial Students Meeting Address

Address by JKUASA Chair Daniel Mutuku during the Actuarial Students Meeting held 25th May 2009 5pm at the New Science Complex Lecture Theatre 1

Thank you all for turning up for this inaugural meeting of actuarial students. Its an honour to serve you people. This year we have a number of events planned. Before we get into that, let us have the principles that shall guide us in the doing of all our activities. Of the many available, I identified knowledge, integrity, cooperation, leadership, open-mindedness and God.

Knowledge or understanding is the basic reason why we are here. We should strive to gain it day in day out. We pay school fees for knowledge. This underscores its value. The exam is a TEST to check whether you have gained the knowledge. Lets study hard and smart. Be inquisitive, seek to understand concepts. Research well for assignments. Therefore, knowledge will not only help you pass exams but will be an asset for utilization now and in the future. Knowledge is POWER!

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Integrity or honesty is the adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character. It is synonymous with upstandingness and wholeness. Integrity protects you. It ensures that you remain genuine, not fake, nor a copy. Integrity ensures that speech and actions merge. Integrity means that results in exams are your own and not of that individual called Mwakenya. Integrity shall help us to be trustworthy custodians of the responsibilities that we shall be charged with. Integrity breeds honour. Integrity will also make certain that the good name and standing of Actuarial Science as a profession will remain and be cemented. Lets be such that Actuarial Science students are synonymous with integrity. Much like Barack Obama and HOPE!

Cooperation is also very important to us as it will make sure that all of us benefit. This attribute is there. We need to reap the most from it for our community. Of a number of the autobiographies that Ive read, one pointer that is very apparent is that those people who have made it have maintained and nurtured the relationships that started in university. Former US President Clinton had some of his university colleagues help him become president and they eventually became his advisors. So, not only should we exchange notes, but we should also exchange ideas. I know a number of actuarial firms through partnerships will emanate from here. New financial products and services shall also exist because of our cooperation.
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Positions in which we can work optimally will also be availed for us. The relationships we have here do not only have social value but also do have enterprise value. So lets talk more, interact more, and the benefits shall be tremendous.

Leadership, being the influence over others, is our call. The mere fact that we are enrolled in university makes us visible among the public. By registering for Actuarial Science we have opened for ourselves many opportunities of influence. This is because, among other factors, this profession is highly esteemed in the professional sector. We all know that it has the highest cut off marks for a regular degree. In realization of this, lets be worthy of leadership by having emulatable characters. We can shape the destiny of this nation. The US students actuary page says that many actuarial graduates end up as CEOs and business leaders. Through using our skill in solutions of problems e.g. resource management, we can attain those positions of leadership. Our challenge then is to prepare ourselves relentlessly for the tasks ahead. As I said knowledge shall, help us for it always remain with us once we acquire it. We are Actuarial Science students aka LEADERS!

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Not all of us shall end up as actuaries. The knowledge acquired here has a price tag and will go a long way. It is an asset. In whichever sector of the economy we are going to end up or choose, lets fully employ what we have to ensure that we move forward as profession and as a nation. Lets be open to venturing into different economic sectors while still analyzing to see how our expertise can be most useful. The world rewards problem solvers. With determined wills and minds, this is possible.

Last but not least, shall we put God first in all that we do? It shall be our greatest act of faith and will open doors that would have seemed to be impossible to open.

Thank you.

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