This summer, QUEST students applied their skills far beyond Maryland, taking internships across the country and the globe. Mahati Gorthy, a senior computer science major in Cohort 44 navigated a new environment during her summer internship.
For her junior year internship, Gorthy traveled to San Francisco to work at Google on the Android Messaging team, focusing on spam and abuse. Her project addressed messaging threats, including attacks from spammers using AI agents to find vulnerabilities.
“It was probably one of the most technically challenging things I’ve ever done. It was work that I’ve never touched before,” Gorthy shared.
As the only intern on her team, her experience differed greatly from her previous internship at Capital One, where she worked with multiple other interns.
“It was super difficult because I was in a race with myself, a competition with just myself," she said. "I loved it, but it was also very hard in the beginning because I was in it alone.”
However, this more independent setting actually compelled her to build stronger relationships with managers and coworkers.
Beyond the technical demands of her internship, moving across the country was another major challenge.
“It was really hard in the beginning,” Gorthy acknowledged. “Most of my friends and family are on the East Coast, so it was hard for me to get used to this new change.”
However, after taking advice from others who had also moved far away, she adjusted by staying connected with family and finding a community in San Francisco. One aspect of San Francisco that Gorthy embraced was the vibrant culture, joining a run club that met weekly at 6:30 am, where runners would run three miles and end with a polar plunge in the bay water. She described this as her “favorite experience” during her stay, which provided a welcoming community outside of the office.
Gorthy credits strong communication and relationship-building skills as key to securing and succeeding in her fast-paced internship. She emphasizes advocating for oneself and making one’s voice heard.
“Don’t be a ‘silent developer’," she said. "There’s so much importance to never being silent anywhere. Always make your name heard.”
She also stressed the importance of building genuine relationships with peers and coworkers. Ultimately, Gorthy’s summer showed that pushing yourself technically and personally can turn daunting challenges into opportunities for growth.
