This collection of papers consists of three major pieces. The first paper,"Experiences of an Actuarial Student," discusses my college career and what it was like for me to be an actuarial student at Ball State University. The other two papers were opportunities for me to research mathematical topics that I would not have been able to in my regular courses. The first of these, "Mathematical Coding," discusses a couple of methods of mathematical coding, encryption and Huffman coding. The second, "Conway's Theories," discusses three theories and/or algorithms that mathematician John Horton Conway discovered. This thesis was an opportunity for me to not only look back on what I have experienced here, but also research a couple of areas of mathematics I most likely would not have had reason to otherwise.