RYAN Blake is a young man on a mission: to become an actuary, a profession that will see him compiling and analysing statistics in order to calculate insurance risks and premiums.

All he needs now is a job offer. Already he has the academic qualification. Ryan recently completed his bachelor of science degree in actuarial science at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and with a grade point average of 4.13.

“It feels great to have been rewarded for the hard work that I have put in. The lessons learnt at UWI about actuarial science are lessons I will carry for the rest of my career and life,” the 21-year-old told Career & Education.

“Traditionally, actuaries are found in insurance companies conducting pension planning. I want to evolve in other financial institutions, such as banks, who also require the quantitative skills of actuaries to manage their financial risks,” he added.

Ryan — who lives his life by the Latin phrase ad astra per aspera (a rough road leads to the stars) — tells how he came to be interested in the field.

“I was always fascinated with finance and science. While I was in lower sixth form, I searched for a career that involved mathematics and science. Actuarial science seemed to be a good career choice and a proper path for me,” noted the Calabar High School past student, who won the Leslie Robinson Award for mathematics for the period 2005 to 2007.

And so he applied to UWI and was in 2007 accepted by to the actuarial science programme in the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences.

“I have never regretted my decision. I really want to continue the journey towards becoming an actuary,” he said.

And until he secures his ideal post in the profession of dreams, he’s taking his studies one step further while working for his father Sevorene Blake in his gas station business. Ryan is currently undertaking online courses with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries out of the United Kingdom in order to sit advanced professional actuary exams. The passes, he hopes, will aid him in becoming a more qualified actuary.

Meanwhile, his achievements go beyond academics. He has also excelled at the game of badminton. Ryan was a national junior representative of Jamaica in 2003 and 2004. He was the Under-15 All Jamaica Badminton Doubles Champion in 2003 and copped the silver medal for the Under-15 Caribbean Badminton Championship, also in 2003. He was the Under-17 Junior Classics Badminton Doubles Champion in 2004.

“Hopefully I will be selected to represent Jamaica in the Senior Pan American Badminton Championships,” Ryan told Career & Education, adding that he is also preparing himself for the elimination round.

He has, in the interim, provided words of motivation for other youths who aspire to become actuaries.

“You should always be disciplined and have a love for problem-solving and finance,” he said.