Takeoff

Bags all packed. Final goodbyes have been said. Time to head off for the summer internship of a lifetime. So here I am in the air headed south to Memphis, TN. My dad sits next to me reading a book. As a frequent flyer traveling is second nature to him. Me, on the other hand, hasn't been aboard a plane since a spring break trip to Tampa while in the 8th grade. I didn't quite know how to react. It has been so long since I was on a plane I completely forgot what it was like. Flying had to at least be better than riding a rollercoaster. Otherwise I would've been freaking out during takeoff. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I hate rollercoasters. Like really hate rollercoasters. Thankfully flying is ten times better than a rollercoaster.

Looking out the window I watched the state of New Jersey slowly become nothing but what one sees on Google Maps when you zoom all the way out on the satellite option. Not long after even that view disappeared and all I could see was clouds. Lots and lots of clouds. This was going to be my view for the next two hours. Now what to do to pass the time. Sticking in my earbuds, I put on some music while I decide.

I'll start by people watching. The man in front of me keeps looking back behind me. I can't tell if he's checking me out or just anxious about the flight. I'm assuming flights make him nervous. He does this for a good fifteen minutes before calming down and going to sleep. The woman across the aisle is reading a book. Cass and Steph would be happy to know that she was reading Me Before You. Looks like someone else loves Sam Claflin as much as those two do. The two girls behind me are excited to be on the plane. These were the same two little girls sitting near me as we waited to board the flight. One of them was wearing the cutest pair of pink cowboy books. If I could steal them I would. Then again I'm no longer five and they were that color pink that probably would've looked ridiculous on me. The flight attendants keep walking back and forth down the aisle. Each time they're pushing something or carrying something new. If this internship makes me realize I've been pursuing the wrong degree I could easily put flight attendant on my list of backup careers. It seems pretty simple.

My dad and I start having a conversation about life and the future. Typical parent-child conversation. Apparently we were talking quite loudly because the man diagonal from us keeps eavesdropping. i would too if I heard someone was going to be a research intern at the zoo. Soon my dad switches the conversation to states that we haven't yet traveled to. We took out the in flight magazine to look at a map and as we do so we come across a page listing species of spiders named after celebrities. I immediately take a picture of the page as it brings back memories of this past fall when I had to identify bugs for a class. Before I know it the plane begins to descend.

So here it is. The moment I've been waiting for since being offered this internship in March. I'm about to step foot into the city I'll be calling home for the next 12 weeks. My dreams of doing research in a zoo are becoming a reality. I couldn't be more excited. Soon I'll be unpacking my bags. Soon I'll be saying hello to this new adventure in my life.

UPDATE: I landed safely and am all settled into my new home. I've also made it through my first day at the internship. More information about it to come throughout the summer.

Goodbyes

The hardest part about spending a summer in a state where you know nothing is saying goodbye to the things you know everything about. Three years of living in the great state of Vermont has provided me with friends who I spend every day with and places where I adventure to at a moment's notice. I can't just let myself in to my friends' places with their spare key. I can't take a walk down to the waterfront to watch the most perfect sunsets I have ever seen. I can't take a drive down the road to the barn for some well deserved pony time. I can't show up to the library after class to surprise my friends at work.

I had this same feeling three years ago when I was leaving my life in New Jersey for the one I have now in Vermont. I was leaving the greatest friends I had ever made behind. I was leaving the barn I had called my second home since I was little. I was leaving the family that helped me grow up to become the person I am starting to today. My life was changing and it scared me. Somehow I got past the fear, made the move, and find myself never wanting to leave my new home.

So here I am in the same position moving to Tennessee for three months for an internship of a lifetime. I'm just as scared to make this move as I was when moving to Vermont, but unlike that time I know I'll be okay. The things I love aren't going away. While I'm off living a different life for a few weeks, they'll still be right where they are when I get back. The friends I have made will still be the same friends. The sunsets will still be just as purple. The horses will continue to live their lives as usual. Of course there will be changes. Some will be for the better and others for the worse. Life moves on and I just have to accept that. But the love I have for them will never go away.

I may be crying today but tomorrow my tears will be in the past. None of it will be goodbye for good, just goodbye for now.