Actuary Science Diversity Scholarship Essay

I am Edgar Zimmerman, Jr. and I am sending this correspondence as my personal statement and request to receive your financial support again for your Actuary Science Diversity Scholarship. I am now 18 years of age and currently a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). My major is Mathematics for Business with a Concentration in Actuarial Science.
Every actuary professional that I have talked to about becoming an actuary has recommended that I take the actuarial exams as early as I can to gain exposure and experience. In order to prepare for actuarial exams, during my first semester at UNCC, I took the first actuarial science as a first semester freshman. Currently, the second semester of my freshman year, I am enrolled in the next level actuarial science course. Taking these sophomore/junior level courses during my first year in college has been proved to be a struggle. Adjusting to college, an environment with an increased workload and highly demanding subject matter, has been difficult for me. I am still learning and gaining more understanding, but unfortunately, I did not perform as well as I wanted during my first semester. I earned Cs in my first Actuarial Science course and in Calculus III. Although my performance has been less than desirable, I am putting fort great effort and am currently working towards achieving greater academic success.
These new friendships, along with my actuary mentor, will provide a support team to assist me with my pursuit of earning a degree in Business Mathematics with a concentration in Actuary Science. I have been encouraged by many to continue to study and not feel unsuccessful because many students do not pass the first attempt at an actuarial exam, take the exam their first year of college, or take the UNCC actuary courses during their freshmen