With graduation less than a year away, I have really begun to reflect on my time at Lancaster. Before starting my course, I was very apprehensive about doing a joint honours degree, especially in two very demanding disciplines. I was unsure how my time would be split between the departments, and whether I would find myself struggling to keep up in both areas. I can honestly say I am very glad I chose the course I did as it has exceeded all expectations.

The main reason I chose my course was because I started to gain an interest in the actuarial profession while at college, and I knew that economics and mathematics were two highly regarded degree subjects for employers, so I thought why not do both!

Getting to be part of two very different departments has allowed me to build up many different skills, and also make use of the different teaching styles. Maths is very much about quantitative accuracy, whereas a lot of economics is based on discussing different points of view. This meant that I’ve had to keep up both essay writing skills as well as numerical skills, which I think will help me in the future. The first two years of my degree have been made up of almost entirely compulsory modules, so it was exciting to be able to choose some more specialised areas to study this year. Even though I am heading into finance, I am studying both Health Economics and Medical Statistics this year as I find the medical industry very interesting. I am only a few weeks into Health Economics but it is quickly becoming one of my favourite modules as it is so different to anything I have studied before. Another module that stood out for me is Game Theory, and I even ended up doing a presentation on it as part of a job interview last year which shows how applicable some of the degree modules can be in the real world.

One thing that I have found very useful in the economics department is the careers and employability focus, it has been invaluable in helping me gain my dream job. Through the years at Lancaster, I have had CV checks, practice video interviews, psychometric test prep, and many talks from different employers. All those have helped me to achieve a graduate position as a Trainee Actuarial Consultant in London.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time studying maths and economics and I would definitely recommend a joint honours degree. Even though I am sad to be leaving Lancaster behind at the end of the year, I am very excited for the next stage and am grateful to the university for helping me get there.

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