Reflection on the G.O.A.L.S.

As an honors student at Ohio State, I have taken steps to gain valuable experience in each of the five G.O.A.L.S. sections: global awareness, original inquiry, academic enrichment, leadership development, and service engagement. I plan on continuing to search out other experiences in these areas during the rest of my time at Ohio State.

To develop my global awareness, I have taken course work such as Spanish, Mythology, and History of East Asian Art to gain a better understanding of different cultures from around the world. I have also made an effort to develop relationships with people from backgrounds different from my own to broaden my global awareness. I also spend time every week talking with people from different backgrounds at a local community center for homeless youth, which is something I will expand on later.

As an actuarial science student, the original inquiry section of the G.O.A.L.S. has been the most difficult for me, as there are very few research opportunities relating to actuarial science. Despite this, I did complete a capstone project in summer 2018 during my internship with Famers Insurance. This project involved extensive research on Farmer’s book of business, competitor’s pricing techniques, and ways to make Farmer’s pricing model more accurate. I have also completed multiple research projects for my classes, in topics from economics, to geology, to future longevity of humans.

Academic enrichment has been a major part of my experience at Ohio State. I have taken many high-level math and statistics courses for my actuarial science degree, and I have also taken high-level economics courses in order to attain an economics minor. I chose to major in actuarial science because math has always been a strength of mine and something that I enjoy, and actuarial science is a very math-heavy major. I chose to minor in economics because that has also always been an interest of mine, and an economics minor complements my major very well. On top of my major and minor coursework, I have taken honors-level GE courses whenever possible, and I plan on continuing to do that until I graduate. I have also been very busy over the past year with studying for and taking actuarial exams. These exams are extremely difficult, and studying for them requires significant amounts of time and devotion outside of the classroom in order to be successful. I have successfully passed the P and FM exams, and I plan on taking the IFM exam in November 2019. This coursework, combined with my actuarial exams and internship experience, will help prepare me for my career as an actuary after graduation.

Leadership development has also been an important goal of my time at Ohio State so far. As I mentioned previously, this past summer I was a pricing analytics intern at Farmers Insurance. With this internship, I had the opportunity to lead my own project to update the pricing model that Farmers uses to price condo insurance in Ohio. Throughout this project, I led meetings to discuss the progress and next steps of the project, consulted with leaders from various areas of expertise, and presented my project results to over 40 members of the product team and upper management at the end of the summer. This internship was a great opportunity for me to gain experience with leading a project and public speaking. This upcoming summer, I will be an intern at Westfield Insurance, and I expect to have similar opportunities for leadership development.  I am also a tutor for Pass the Class, a student organization at Ohio State. With this organization, I spend time every week tutoring homeless youth. I try very hard to lead by example and be a positive influence on the youth that I talk with, and it has definitely helped me develop better communication skills. I have also recently became a member of the youth development executive board for Pass the Class. With this, I will work on developing a GED curriculum that will be used by our tutors to better teach our students. I am also a member of the actuarial science club at Ohio State, and I was previously a member of the OSU run club.

My most prominent experience relating to service engagement has been my experience as a tutor for Pass the Class. Being a tutor with this organization has allowed me to help underprivileged youth in the Columbus area pursue a G.E.D. or college diploma, build their resume, and apply for jobs every week. Outside of tutoring, I have also volunteered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service both years that I have been at OSU, volunteered time at my church to pack meals for children in third world countries, and volunteered to collect money for the Salvation Army during the holiday season.

G.O.A.L.S.

As an honors arts and sciences student at Ohio State, I have five “G.O.A.L.S” that I should pursue before I graduate in four years. These goals are global awareness, original inquiry, academic enrichment, leadership development, and service engagement. Striving to achieve these goals will make me a more well-rounded individual who is prepared for life after college.

With global awareness, students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. I plan to work towards the goal of global awareness by taking different coursework related to global studies. I am currently taking Spanish 1155, where we learn not only how to speak Spanish, but also about the cultures of different Latin American countries. I plan to also take Spanish 1103 and an honors mythology class next semester. On top of this, I will make an effort to meet new people from different backgrounds and cultures over the next four years.

With original inquiry, Honors & Scholars students strive to understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. As a student majoring in actuarial science, this goal will be especially difficult for me. Actuarial science students rarely participate in research. However, I can take advanced coursework and get to know my professors so that I am prepared to do research if the chance ever arises.

With academic enrichment Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom. To achieve this goal, I plan to take honors level general education classes whenever possible. This semester, I am taking honors macroeconomics, and next semester I will be taking honors anthropology and honors mythology. On top of pursuing a bachelors degree in actuarial science, I am also pursuing a minor in economics. The economics minor complements the actuarial science major well, and economics is something that interests me. By doing this, I will be prepared for a career as an actuary when I graduate.

With leadership development, Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society. A great way to achieve this goal is to become involved in the leadership for a club at Ohio State. I am currently a member of the running club, and I would love to help run the club one day as an officer. I would also like to get involved with the actuarial science club and become a leader there as well.

With Service Engagement, Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community. During my time at Ohio State, I hope to get involved with a service organization that helps the community in Columbus. Run club also has many service opportunities throughout the year, and I plan to participate in those as much as I can.

How I Have Changed Since Coming to Ohio State

Over the past few months at Ohio State, I feel that I have become much more independent than I was in high school. College has been a huge change for me. This is the first time I have lived away from my parents and family, and it had taken quite a bit of adjusting. I’m away from all of the friends I had known my whole life back in Copley. I no longer have my mom to do my laundry for me and cook me dinner; I’m responsible for all of my laundry and meals now. Despite all of this, I have made lots of new friends and connections and it has been very nice to be able to make my own plans and do everything on my own schedule. I feel much more prepared for living on my own than I did before.

I have also become much more independent in my academics. At my high school, I had the opportunity to choose one elective class every year, but that was about it. There was very little freedom with the classes I could choose to take. At Ohio State, I no longer only have a few classes to choose from for my curriculum. I have the freedom to choose my own major and take general education classes that sound interesting to me. On top of this, I get to choose when I want to have classes instead of being in school from 7:25 to 2:25 every day.

Overall, going to college has given me an opportunity to explore my own interests and spend my time exactly how I want to. Over the rest of my undergraduate experience, I hope to continue to mature and prepare myself for life completely on my own after college.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

Hello, my name is Andrew Dunkle, and I am currently a first year student majoring in Actuarial Science and minoring in Economics at The Ohio State University. I went to Copley High School previously, where I was involved in my school’s track and cross country teams, student council, and National Honor Society. I am very hardworking, and time management is one of my strengths. I love mathematics, and I am looking forward to working as an Actuary after I earn my bachelor’s degree from Ohio State. I can’t wait for all the experiences I’ll have, people I’ll meet, and lessons I’ll learn these next three years. Go Bucks!

P.S.- These pictures are from my family trip to Europe this past summer. Over two weeks, we visited Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Salzburg.