When I signed up for the Foundations of Insurance and Actuarial Science course within the APEX program, I knew the purpose of insurance, but didn’t really understand it. Through my experiences in this class, insurance now makes a lot more sense. There have been many things that we have done in this course to bring the concepts to life for me. For example, I visited a lot of different insurance companies in the Des Moines Metro and was able to gain an understanding of what working in the insurance field would be like. One thing that stood out to me from all the presentations I heard was that people felt like they were helping others through their job. For example, when somebody dies, a death benefit is paid out and it is used to help families with the loss of income. I am very passionate about helping others, and now I understand how people who work in the insurance industry provide a valuable service.

In addition to learning about the insurance industry, I have also been able to develop my professional skills and network with business partners. One opportunity that I had during my time in APEX was to job shadow Gustavo Lichtenberg, the VP of Global Strategic Marketing for DLL Group. DLL Group is an agricultural finance company, and they are always looking for interns; therefore, they are a valuable connection for me to take with me beyond my time in APEX. Any and all of these opportunities would not be possible without the amazing businesses who partner with the Waukee APEX program, and I now feel like I have a leg up going into college and the future.