Asking the right questions

Eli Margolis learned to appreciate math at a young age. “There was always a right and wrong answer, always a correct way of figuring something out if you searched hard enough,” she reflected.

When she arrived at the Faculty of Mathematics, Margolis encountered more complexity and nuance than she had ever experienced before. “In high school, I could go from point A to point B without explaining how I got there,” she recognized. “In my math classes at Waterloo, I have to be able to explain my reasoning in a robust manner at every step along the way. It’s a completely different way of approaching math.”

In her 1B term, Margolis took an elective in actuarial science on a whim. By the end of a semester, she had chosen a career path. “I have always had a passion for the statistics side of math, so finding a field that applies statistics to business was a perfect fit,” she said.

As a co-op student in actuarial science for companies like Mercer Canada and BMO Financial Group, Margolis began to master a process that was less black and white than many people realize. “The answers you get all depend on the assumptions you begin with,” she explained. “It takes a good amount of experience to get a feel for how to ask the right questions.”

After she graduates in 2022, Margolis plans to pursue an actuarial role with a consulting company. “Thanks to my experience at Waterloo Math, I’m prepared to enter a field that I love.” 

Learn more about Eli's experience as an undergraduate student at Waterloo.