“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” This is a quote from Winnie the Pooh and I don’t think that I truly understood what that meant until this summer. This summer was so incredibly busy for me but it has also been one of the best summers that I have ever had.

I worked so much this summer – not strictly because I needed the money (but let’s be real as college students we all could use the extra money here and there) but because I love the people that I work with and most of the time the customers I deal with. Of course with any job there are going to be days where you come home frustrated, but at the end of the day I wouldn’t change a single thing about what I do or who I work with.

I got close with the management this summer. I had talked to the management before obviously but didn’t start to get to know them as people until this summer. I guess in a way it was easier. Because I go away to school I thought it would be easier to not connect with them on a personal level to make it easier to leave when the time came.

Now I realized how wrong I was for wanting that. One of my managers in particular is snarky and isn’t one for emotions, yet he is the one person that I managed to completely open up to about everything and in a lot of ways, he changed my life. He has proven that when I really need his help and his advice he is going to be there for me and give me the advice that I need to not just survive but thrive.

I heard that quote again a couple of days ago when I was re-watching an episode of "Pretty Little Liars" and I related to it on a totally personal level. When I was scared about getting to know someone on a very personal level I should have realized that it would make my love for my job and the people I work with that much stronger.

While leaving to go back to school will be extremely difficult this summer, I am also looking forward to coming home on breaks and getting to see them again. I am also reminding myself that all of this is temporary. After I graduate college in 2019, I will move back to northern Virginia full-time and I won’t have to worry about missing them or my family.

This summer I think I figured some things out in my life on my own terms. Some of the experiences that I had opened me up to the potential of finding happiness in the most unexpected places. I genuinely feel bad for those people who do not love their job as much as I love mine because everyone deserves to go to a place where they feel empowered and cared for.

Overall, I think that by getting close to the people I work with I want to do better in college to make them proud. High standards is something that the company I work for prides themselves on, and I intend on making them proud. While I am sad to go, I know that their support will always be with me no matter where I go.