Warning: this blog post may contain everything from internship happenings to meaning-of-life tangents. Ayyy carumba. How do you feel about a life chat? Ready or not, we're heading in that direction...all aboard!

Week 3 of my internship streaked by in a blur, and looking back at my last post, it seems like so much has happened since then. This feeling speaks to a curious realization about this summer:

For the first time in a long while, I feel like I'm growing again. Wait wait wait, I should clarify. Dad, I'm still the same height as when you last saw me. Unless the measuring tape counts personality, I'm still blissfully stationed at 5'9ish. We won't talk about how many inches the sass adds.

Where were we? Oh right, GROWTH.

Both intellectually and personally, I've begun to see that this summer is serving as a much-needed catalyst of growth. I have learned things--oftentimes through littlest things enshrined in subtleties--that have drawn me one step closer to seeing the world in its full right. Contrary to how I felt about my internship last summer, I don't feel like a robot slugging through spreadsheets ; instead, I feel like a very-much-alive part of an intricate process, and silly as it may be, there is great room for impact. Sure, work can still be work, but I'm also learning that work is much more about how to work too.

Don't get me wrong--this past year at Georgetown was monumental in terms of learning too. But I definitely hit points where I worried that I had allowed even my ever-busy life to be clouded by stagnation in actual learning. While I still dearly miss DC and all that it encompasses, this decision to be right here, right now feels so, well...right. (Eloquence, I know.) And whether or not I realized that from the get-go, the daily surprises of this summer never cease to remind me that life has a funny way of working itself out.

I've been steadily working on my project, which requires a fair amount of meetings with other Googlers. Though some dread meetings, I will admit that I sort of secretly love them. I thrive off of interactions with people, and meeting such brilliant minds and voices only seems to amplify that feeling of excitement. In fact, I'd venture to guess that the different perspectives gained from these meetings stand at the root of my newfound growth.

It's not success in the conventional form of the word, but my discussions with other Googlers (particularly interns) have made me reevaluate even the most firmly entrenched preconceived notions. It's starkly humbling and incredibly empowering all at once.

Outside of work-work, I've spent plenty of time exploring everything from Google's campus to the city of San Francisco itself. Unlike some others at work, I typically spend at least half of every day in a different building. My frequent meetings around campus motivate me to wander through random buildings, stumbling upon random nooks and crannies that remain grey to others' eyes. As an ardent lover of wandering exploration, this freedom is supreme. Coupled with an almond milk latte or mint-infused water, these workplace explorations make me bonkers happy...and productive!

I spend much of my work day doing this, interspersing meetings with mentor lunches or project brainstorms in a café. Since my day requires a commute and includes meals on campus, a generous portion of my weekdays are spent either at 'the office' or relaxing and catching up at home.