Hello From the Other Side

GRIP: Data Science Engineer at Stethy in Sydney, Australia

Cover image:  Blue Mountains

If you told Freshman year me at the beginning of the year that I’d be doing data analytics in Sydney, Australia, I probably would have given you a confused look. Although I didn’t exactly my first-choice internship placement in Australia, I stepped into something unfamiliar has been one of the best things to happen to me this summer. Every day I’m learning tools and concepts I’ve never touched before, and that feeling of figuring something out from scratch is genuinely exciting.

Beyond the internship, I’ve been soaking up everything Sydney has to offer.

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One stop I’ll remember for a long time is the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I spent an afternoon learning about Aboriginal Australians, the country’s Indigenous people. Their history is layered and complex, and what struck me most was how openly Australia confronts it. There’s no glossing over the difficult parts. The stories, the art, and the voices of Indigenous people are front and center, and I walked out feeling like I genuinely understood something I had never thought much about before.

Right outside the museum sits the iconic Sydney Opera House. I’m actually heading back soon to catch a show called “Pride & Prejudice* (*Not Really),” and I could not be more excited.

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Last last weekend I made the trip out to the Blue Mountains, and I think “refreshing” is the only word that captures it. The landscape is the kind of thing that makes you stop mid-step just to take it in. Rolling valleys, dramatic cliffs, and air that feels completely different from the city.

I also pushed myself harder than I expected physically, logging 25,000 steps by the end of the day. My legs felt it the next morning, but more than that, I felt reset in a way I really needed. There’s something about spending a full day in nature that clears out the noise and lets you breathe again.

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Between a field I’m growing to love, history that’s made me think differently, and views that genuinely take your breath away, this experience is shaping up to be something I’ll carry for a long time.

More updates soon!