ZhiXing (Jason) Chen

College: Brooklyn College

Education Level: Graduate

Career Interest: Math Education

I am a recent graduate from Brooklyn College (CUNY). My major is Mathematics Teacher for Secondary School (7-12) while my minor is in Chinese Literature. I believe that I know how to provide students with the “right” scaffolding to be successful with the content. I believe that differentiation is the key to meet the needs of diverse learners in our school community. I am proud to teach math with technology, such as Google Classroom, Desmos, and GeoGebra. I believe that “The universal won’t hate math when math is learned in a joyful and meaningful way.”

What was your role?

I am working on formulas and algorithms for my team because I am a math education major. I am more familiar with the calculation and formula within my team. I am proud to produce some mathematical aspects for my team. And I hope that my production will be useful for coding.

What did you work on?

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What was the impact of your project?

The financial investment is complicated, and people will make the portfolio in investments to avoid risk. So, my project provides a sense of what is the best way to distribute the money to invest. For example, it automatically calculates the Net Present Value of each investment, and our clients can choose the highest NPV as the way to invest their money in different assets.

What did you learn or improve on from this internship or from your teammates?

There are several new skills that I have picked up. First, I have found out that there are a few ways to calculate the minimum payment of credit cards. I have figured out how to use the amortization formula to calculate the constant monthly payments for the mortgage with a given limit, duration, and rate. Then, we have found out the remaining balance and the total mortgage due with the given year of mortgage. Finally, I have gotten some insights from Excel Solver and NPVs to find out the algorithm to use the extra monthly payment with my teammates. There are a lot of things that I have learned from my teammates. And the most important thing is to support each other. We are always on the call to support anyone who has questions or concerns. We will try our best to do every assignment as a team. And we have become the best team from my perspective.

What skills have you gained?

There are several new skills that I have picked up. First, I have found out that there are a few ways to calculate the minimum payment of credit cards. I have figured out how to use to amortization formula to calculate the constant monthly payments for the mortgage with given limit, duration, and rate. Then, we have found out the remaining balance and the total mortgage due with the given year of mortgage. Finally, I have gotten some insights from Excel Solver and NPVs to find out the algorithm to use the extra monthly payment with my teammates.

What was the biggest roadblock you've overcome?

Unadat is a financial service firm. Since I don’t have any financial background, I had to spend much time on my own studying financial terminologies and formulas to complete the projects. I was glad that my manager and my colleague who had more experience in this field willingly provided their helps when I felt confused. When they were all busy, I would write down my questions, and tried to find solutions through Internet and did my best to catch up with their paces, so we could finish the project on time.

How has company culture guided your work?

A company’s culture means a set of common goals, shared values, and respect for others. It is helping me to learn better and work better for Unadat. It has helped shape me into a better person.

What was your experience at Unadat?

Unadat provided me a great insight of how financial world as we dedicated to create many strategies for clients to get clearer of their credit information, net gain in the loan, and risk management. Meanwhile, the business culture and management at Unadat are top-notch. People in here respected and listened other people’s opinions, and reluctantly offered help when encountering obstacles during the project. It not only inspired me but also made me enjoy to work with others.

What was one big project you worked on during the internship? Can you walk me through the process?

The biggest project I have worked on is finding the constant monthly payment, total mortgage due, and remaining balance for the mortgage with the given limit, duration, rate, and the year of mortgage. It is extremely tricky for me to do that because the payment amount toward the remaining balance (principal) is different for each month while the monthly mortgage payments are the same. We must first figure out how many completed payments that the users have made. Then, we have to use another formula to calculate it.

What advice would you give to future interns?

There are some suggestions that I would like to give to the next crop of interns. First, we should stay positive about everything and believe in ourselves. We should believe that everything is doable. And we are making progress every single day. Secondly, I would like to say that we should take responsibility for the given assignment. We must treat the assignment as our own mission.