This Fall Break, I got the chance to explore a few East Coast cities.

I kicked off Fall Break watching Miss Congeniality and eating Tiffin takeout with my teammate Sydney before she went back home to Boston. The next morning, I left for New Brunswick, New Jersey to talk at and judge HackRU, the Rutgers hackathon. I represented Twilio, the company I interned at last summer. While there, I enjoyed meeting programmers both new and old from different colleges. I also met up with someone from the team I interned on this past summer. Together, we judged some of the final projects, and announced some winners on stage, as shown below.

After HackRU, I went to New York City to stay with my aunt and uncle. I was in NYC for most of this previous summer, and used this week as an opportunity to catch up with people I’d met. I walked, ate, and shopped a lot all over Manhattan, exploring Chinatown, Little Italy, Central Park, Korea Town, and the Flatiron District. I saw Wicked with my friend Prince, and also did work on my thesis at my old office and at the New York Public Library, so I did have some productive moments this break!

Friday morning, I left the Big Apple to head to Washington D.C. to mentor and speak at the Tech Lady Hackathon, again for Twilio. I gave my best demo there, and really bonded and learned from the hundreds of amazing women who attended. I had some free time to explore the Air and Space Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of American History.

This was the most fun and packed Fall Break I’ve had here at Bryn Mawr, and I feel so lucky to attend school so close to major cities like NYC and D.C. I also love how I can continue to work (not a work-study job!) during the school year, especially in one that lets me travel. It was interesting to travel alone, but also neat to say, “I’m here on business.”

Exploring different cities this Fall Break has reinvigorated me so second quarter of my senior year…here I come!