President's Blog July 2022
Holidaying in the Lovely Weather…
Hello and welcome dear readers to the President’s blog post for July 2022!

In the academic calendar, July means holidays. In the ASSOC calendar, July usually means a mad-dash-circuit of events, giving everyone something to occupy themselves with across all four weeks. Things didn’t necessarily pan out the way we thought.
Among many things, the unprecedented flooding impacted much of our plans. My thoughts go to the victims of the torrential rain that’ve had their lives upended both mentally and financially. This became all too apparent when I went out one day for a walk and saw myself marooned on an inland beach.
ASSOC has shifted many of our events back slightly to accommodate for everyone, making for an exciting August. But nonetheless, July was still quite interesting as you shall see…
ASSOC x ASOC x EY Futsal Competition
The battle between giants. The clash of ideologies. A rematch of the ages. After MQ took the cake earlier in the year in Basketball, the stage was set for the traditional second-leg of this test of physical mettle. In one corner, a side fuelled by the taste of victory and calmed by a state of mental fortitude – inexplicable to those unaccustomed to the art of the win. In the other, a side rejuvenated from loss and wielding the doubled-edged fire of revenge. With the commencement of the day, amongst all the unknowns, one thing was clear: emblazoned upon all competitors minds was the phrase “Hell hath no fury like a rival scorned”.
And so, it began. With each passing game, the fog of ambiguity lifted to reveal the narrative of the day. Despite the palatable air of competition and efforts that left everything on the pitch, the four hours could not have passed any quicker. Like a tidal wave, Prime Barcelona (MQ) gathered momentum and washed past each foe with an inattentive impetus. At eleven o’clock, there was a discussion. By three o’clock, talks had concluded. Macquarie were victors, with ASSOC unanimous sporting champions for 2022.

R Workshop
There are a few key tools to an Actuarial student’s toolkit. Mathematical reasoning lends itself as the trusty Phillips head, mortality tables as the spirit level, formulae sheets as the pliers and credit-level academic transcripts as the claw hammer to batter down bouts of apocalypticism. While most of these tools get thoroughly utilised on our laboured journeys across the Actuarial department, there remains one tool that often gets left behind, despite its ticket to ride: R.
More specifically, a knowledge of using R. This giant of the industry, capable of transforming and presenting data with an ease envied by other programming languages is usually left in such an embryonic stage during university that its wildest applications range from bloatware on a hard drive to a glorified calculator. In an attempt to remedy this, ASSOC runs an annual R workshop to give an opportunity for interested students to grow their skills.
Dr. Abhay Singh returned as our resident R expert to deliver an insightful presentation on the ins and outs of RStudio and common programming skills. I’d like to thank him for his continual efforts in supporting the society. I’d also like to commend the efforts of the IT team for pumping out another great event; 2 down 2 to go.
Future Events?
You’ll have to stay tuned to our socials for information on upcoming events but here’s a little sneak peek at this next month:
Event | Timeframe |
Amazing Race | August 5th |
SQL Workshop | Week 3 |
Trivial Night | Week 4 |
Meet the Professionals Night | Week 4 |
Poker Night | Week 5 |
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