Moving Forward

How could something come and go so quickly?

It seems like only yesterday that I was seeing Washington, D.C. for the first time. I met my program directors; I met my apartment mates. I met my fellow interns and classmates—some of the most amazing people in the world, I’ve come to find.

Now eight weeks have passed. We’ve all been changed; we’ve all grown—not only individually but also together. It seems like this has happened only so we could be torn apart. At times it’s miserable.

But when you look more closely at the situation—when you lift from your eyes the veil that emotions and living only for the moment cast—a greater good becomes clear.

So many of us have claimed to have met some of the most incredible people—now friends—this summer, making it a disappointment to leave.

I’ve been tempted to think now that I’m leaving all of this, what was the point?

But think: if we hadn’t have come, we would never have known each other in the first place; if we never left, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to move on to grander times, paramount accomplishments, which I know if anyone in this world will accomplish, it’s the graduates from this program.

Sure leaving is hard—it hurts. But it’s no tragedy.

Now I have so much more to look forward to when I return to Washington. Now I know I want to come back to Washington—something I had never considered previously. Now I can go on, armed with all of the skills and knowledge I’ve gained from this program, to serve in ways previously impossible for me.

My fellow interns, I love you like my family, and I look forward to seeing you all again—because if I never did, that would be the tragedy.