Chauncey Miguel Francisco

College Life

In 2019, my college life started in my alma mater, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa, enrolling in the Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics program. At first, I chose this path because it aligned with my skillset such as mathematical proficiency, and critical thinking. However, I eventually loved my program not just from the satisfaction of widening my knowledge but also from the strong collaboration from my blockmates who stood by me through the hard times.

I experienced a culture shock going into my first year of college, not only it was far away from home but also the demanding schedule and academic requirements was difficult to get used to. I wasn't fully aware of the vastness of an ocean mathematics is and how critical thinking is the key in solving most problems. The professors in PUP trained us to go beyond of our capabilities and to think in more ways than one to solve whatever problems we come across to. Nonetheless, I tried my best to fit in the college environment and even managed to join activities such as a Math quiz bee or a volleyball competition in our department.

At the midst of the pandemic, each one of us was very shaken up and we had to come up with various ways to pursue our studies. In spite of that, the calamity did not stop us iskolars ng bayan on taking classes even at an online set up, and join extracurricular activities such as webinars and club activities. One that is most notable for me is a leadership workshop called "Prepi Bootcamp" in which honor students are encouraged to participate. I get to learn so much on CEO's and managers of big companies and how the workplace operates. For a collection of these certificates from various activities, please visit this link: https://bitly.ws/X2IG.

In my 4 years of being an undergraduate student in the University, there were many times that I thought I won't graduate on time or I would experience failing grades but the funny thing is, I don't really know what life has in store for me. To my surprise, I graduated not just on time but also a Cum Laude in BS Applied Mathematics. It is always exhilarating to reminisce my college life and all the learnings that I will surely apply going forward into the next steps of my life.

Internship

I took an internship in 2022 in the Philippine Statistics Authority - Rizal (PSA - Rizal) where I was offered the position of an intern in the statistics department for 250+ hours. Researching the censuses and surveys of the company is no joke because of the large-scale nature of PSA, they contain several surveys where each has a lot of work involved. Despite the quantity of work, we were determined to finish it since it was not just for us, but also for the next batch of interns who will learn about the company. This was also an opportunity to gain an understanding on the presence of PSA online. Namely, it's main website, data archive, database, Facebook page, etc. Various publications, example data, and metadata were very helpful on providing information on the surveys' and Censuses' uses, objectives, indicators, etc. This desk research is written in a word document. This is also converted into a presentation where we detail our inputs on how to improve the products and services of PSA Rizal. This presentation comes later since we had to study various sample publications of PSA such as lnfographics, Special Releases, Surveys, etc.

ln the following weeks, a lot of our time was spent on constructing Special Releases (SR) and lnfo graphs. SR's are simply descriptive reports on the performance or situation of a certain sector. We make these reports based on what the raw data looks like (e.9. Did production increase; What is the percent share of the subsector; Did the pandemic affect the quantity; etc.)wherein these raw data is taken from the PSA website or given by our supervisors which in turn came from various surveys aimed to collect and compile the data. ln constructing SR's, I learned the various features of Google Docs and Google Sheets to describe and visualize the data that is given. These softwares are also good in maintaining a collaborative experience among us interns since some tasks involve a lot of people.

I would say that Special Releases are contributions to the company since with the busy schedule of the employees, we can provide them templates of special releases since similar reports can be given for the next month/quarter/semester/year. The same can be said for lnfo graphs. We were also tasked with these to better visualize the performance/ situation of a sector. Because of this task, I learned a lot of technical skills in the Canva software which is graphic design platform that enables me to create appropriate designs to match how the data is performing. Not only did we get the chance to make these outputs, but also, we managed to present them. This develops our communication skills which becomes a voice for the betterment of the company.

Overall, even through an online setup, it is very rewarding to still have an OJT even in the middle of a pandemic. Being in an internship program lets me apply what I learned in University such as statistical analysis; Data analysis; Mathematical thinking; Communication; and many more. Furthermore, I improved upon these skills and acquire some more, in particular: Technical skills in Canva, Docs, and Sheets; Data Visualization; and Presentation of Data. Most of these learnings is thanks to my supervisor Ma'am Janice E. Tan, which was very kind to me and my fellow interns and was.always so positive and encouraging which pushes us to always believe that we can do any tasks laid out to us. I believe that the things that I learned in this lnternship will be a great preparation for the future that I am planning for myself as I embark my journey to the real world. Here are the examples of outputs done during my internship: https://bitly.ws/X5xa

Research

Of course, one of the most grueling obstacles that I have to overcome as an undergraduate in my program was finishing our research paper. It is entitled: "A Time-Delayed Model on Pneumococcal Pneumonia Transmission in the Philippines with Vaccination Interventions". The paper is inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic and how essential it is to monitor the spread of viruses to improve healthcare interventions, in our study, the spread of Pneumonia with a prevention practice of vaccinating individuals to mimimize the spread of the disease. The projection of the number of cases of pneumonia is done by providing a model that describes the phenomena within certain parameters. For instance, the number of individuals in a certain point in time can be classified in either Susceptible, Carrier, Infected, Recovered, or Vaccinated individuals. In each of these classes, the values will depend on an equation that mirrors how the disease will spread likely from being in contact with infected classes or being immunized by vaccination interventions. Because the vaccine does not take effect immediately, a "delayed effect" is introduced. This is the gist of our study.

Aside from learning mathematical calculations to provide meaningful results, we also had to apply our programming skills in order to provide forecast data. Thankfully, I was immersed with different programming languages such as Matlab, Python, and R programming. To provide some examples of my coding skills, please browse this repository: https://bitly.ws/YrAJ

Along the journey of this research, we had to make difficult decisions in order to finish our paper. In the end, we successfully defended our research among esteemed professors in our college. Furthermore, we grabbed the opportunity to take a photo on one of the landmarks of PUP known as the "Obelisk" to signify our defended research paper and eventually the end of our journey in the University.

Personal Life

Hi, Miguel here! I don't actually have a nickname but you can call me Migs. I am somewhat of a "Jack of all trades" because I have many hobbies such as cooking, playing the guitar, playing smash bros ultimate, reading books with world building, and trying out new exercises.

Contact

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Elements

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