This summer, I left Caltech behind for three months and headed to Austin, Texas (Yee-Haw), where I interned on a security engineering team at Apple. It was my first time away from home and Caltech for more than a few weeks in almost two years, so naturally, this post isn’t just about my internship but about the whole experience of living away for longer than a month. Spoiler: there’s a lot to be learned when you step outside the Caltech bubble — and a lot to appreciate about life inside it too.
One of the biggest changes was adjusting to a more structured routine. At Caltech, my schedule is whatever I make it. If I feel like heading to the gym, grabbing coffee, or sitting around chatting in Red Door, I just go for it. This summer, though, my weekdays turned into a routine of work, gym, cook dinner, yap with my roommate Kirthi, sleep, and repeat. It was productive, but also a bit of a shock to my freeform Caltech habits.
That said, I did have a ton of fun, especially on the weekends when friends came to visit. There’s something extra special about catching up when you don’t get to see people as often, and I realized just how easy it is to see friends whenever you want at Caltech. Austin, though? Visits from friends felt a bit more like a vacation, and I loved that.
At work, I was building a developer tool that finds cloud infrastructure misconfigurations in code. Then it automatically provides the developer with a copy-and-pasteable code fix using an LLM. It was a rewarding project, and my team was an incredible source of inspiration. Our lunch conversations were always interesting — whether we were chatting about the history of the tortilla blanket, debating the supposed Austin serial killer (which I’m convinced is a hoax), or joking about how to hack airplanes to get free WiFi, there was never a dull moment.
With the excitement of being in a new and unexplored city, I really upped my foodie game this summer. Kirthi and I went on a mission to find the best tacos in Austin. We ate tacos for breakfast on the way to work, demolished massive lunches after hiking in the high humidity, and satisfied cravings after a night out on sixth street. I think we could run our own taco tour business at this point.
When I wasn’t at work, you’d find me in my apartment’s pool or at Barton Springs, a natural spring right in the heart of downtown Austin. It’s refreshing, beautiful, and essential during the sweltering Texas heat. Though, be warned: Austin weather is unpredictable. One minute, it’s sunny and hot; and the next, it’s thunderstorming, and you’re sprinting back to your car drenched. (Still worth it though).
I absolutely fell in love with Austin this summer. Between its natural beauty, incredible food, and unique culture, it has won me over. Yee-haw, indeed.
