Morgan Wissner, an Actuarial Science and Mathematics major at PennWest, discovered early that numbers always made perfect sense to her. 

"Math always came easy to me," Morgan explains. "As math got harder and harder, when you go into algebra, geometry, and even statistics, it still came easy to me, whereas the people around me, it got a little bit harder."

When a high school statistics teacher suggested she consider teaching, Morgan had other ideas. "I did some research and found out what actuarial science was, and it really got me interested in the insurance field and how they can pay out claims and how they save enough money if anyone has a premature death."

This clarity of purpose helped Morgan narrow her college search. "Not a lot of schools have actuarial science as an option," she notes. Edinboro's program, combined with the opportunity to play soccer, made PennWest the perfect fit.

On campus, Morgan thrived both academically and athletically, earning PSAC West Player of the Week as a freshman and later joining the coaching staff as a student assistant. Balancing her rigorous academic schedule with athletics wasn't easy, but she found support from understanding professors.

"Time management was the biggest key to me balancing soccer and my math classes," she says. "Anytime I wasn't playing soccer, I was doing homework or studying."

When faced with the challenge of passing her actuarial exam, Morgan credits faculty mentor Dr. Kilburn for encouraging her to persevere. "He pushed me into taking the actuarial exam again and again. He guided me and helped me out with rethinking about it, and I eventually passed it the third time."

What Morgan values most about PennWest is the close-knit community. "I had the pleasure to be in a smaller size classroom throughout my time here at Edinboro, and I got to personally get to know my classmates and professors," she shares. "I was in classes with like six to ten people, and you really get to know each other in one semester and get to personally talk to your professor all the time."

Her advice to prospective students? "Try new things, especially if it's out of your comfort zone. When I was 16, I had no clue. I shadowed an engineer, someone in the medical field. When I shadowed someone in insurance, it was what I wanted to do."