[No. 116] Taiki Miyake

Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to the Keio University alumni Relay Column. I am now in my fourth year of working, and it has been over five years since I graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology. I would like to reflect on how what I learned during my university days has connected to who I am today.

Since junior high school, I have enjoyed reading books about mathematics and solving puzzles. My interest in mathematics remained unchanged in high school, and wanting to study what I loved at university, I advanced to Gakumon 2, which allowed me to choose the Department of Mathematics. However, I remember having some doubts and anxieties, wondering if studying mathematics at university would be useful in society.

Although I intended to study mathematics upon entering university, I think I initially struggled to understand the material and just studied to get by. Around the end of my first year, when I began to question if this was the right approach, I found a wonderful reference book on analysis in the university library and started studying anew. I feel that this was the first time I truly grasped what university-level mathematics was all about. I believe that being able to study on my own at that time cultivated my attitude toward learning mathematics and enriched my university life.

After advancing to the Department of Mathematics, I was surrounded by friends who also loved mathematics, and I spent many enjoyable days. I was always excited to attend lectures, and I have fond memories of solving assignments with friends in the library and studying my favorite subjects between classes.

Besides my studies, I was also active in a ski club and had a part-time job. The club gave me the opportunity to meet people from outside the Faculty of Science and Technology and from other universities, which was very stimulating. Since our activities were on Saturdays, my days were spent studying hard on weekdays and playing hard on weekends.

I was unsure what to specialize in, but I decided to study probability theory, an area of analysis that seemed applicable to the real world, and chose to study in a probability theory laboratory. In the seminar's reading group, we learned the fundamentals of probability theory and the very basics of finance, and I also received guidance from other professors, which was a great learning experience.

I never considered entering the workforce after graduating from my undergraduate program. Driven by the desire to continue studying mathematics, I entered graduate school and continued to learn about probability theory. In graduate school, I attended various academic conferences, met truly brilliant people, and was exposed to cutting-edge research, which was a valuable experience.

I currently work at The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited, where I am involved in developing insurance products from an actuarial perspective. It is a challenging but rewarding job, as my work has a very large impact on the insurance business. The probability theory I learned at university is often directly useful in my work. Moreover, even indirectly, I believe the way of thinking I developed through mathematics has been beneficial.

My current job also requires knowledge of finance, so I am thinking about rereading the textbook I read during my fourth year of my undergraduate studies.

Although I had some anxieties in high school about advancing to the Department of Mathematics, I now feel that those worries were unfounded. Being able to study a subject I loved and spend my university years meaningfully was a truly valuable experience, and I feel that choosing the Department of Mathematics was the right decision.

Finally, as a message to those who are about to enter university: please immerse yourselves in what you love and have a thoroughly enjoyable student life.