I've got a happy sad memory dump wall of text.
I went to a weird high school, where instead of going to school Tuesday and Thursday, you would go to an internship and get real world experience. I started working at a local water quality/conservation non-profit three years ago, the first week after I got back from winter break in freshman year. It's been over three and a half years now, and I've got four days left.
I mostly did data entry and preparation for our monthly water quality monitoring events, where volunteers go out and collect data from rivers and streams all over the county. I loved every minute of it, which is why I volunteered over the last two summers. This summer, now that I'm out of high school, I'm finally working for pay, for a few more days till I leave to go to college.
My replacement's first day is tomorrow. She's a PHD of Ecology. She's replacing a guy with a high school diploma. These last few weeks I've been going through my daily routine with the thought that I'm going to have to explain this to another person. All these systems I've worked together over the years... it's no longer my job alone. Sure there were other interns that came into help, but I was the fixed point. I was there, silently tapping away at the numpad.
I built them an automatic watersampler, which is what I wrote my college admissions essay on. Without that essay, I wouldn't be going to where I am.
Just got back from a fundraiser we hosted, which did feel like a last lap. Had some rather high profile people there, which was nice. I was told to schmooze/mingle, so schmooze I did. In reality, I wasn't really schmoozing, I was ambushing people and introducing myself. I even asked them if I could ambush them.
Man, I'd be sad if I didn't love it.
I'm done now.