Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

My final week at the museum was a great wrap up to my summer. Blair finished early on Monday because she was leaving for India Wednesday morning so the staff had a going away party for her and me during break that day. When we got to Beggars Bush we told them it was Blair’s last day and they all felt bad that they hadn’t gotten cake or anything. Matthew left for a few minutes and when he came back he was carrying a bunch of boxes of desserts for us!

Me, Blair, and Rory.

So we took an early afternoon tea break and were able to all sit together and have some tea and cake to celebrate Blair’s and mine last week. They really are amazing- all these people I got to work with. It was a pretty relaxed workweek overall and I think it was a really great way to end my internship.

I did a couple tasks for Matthew this week, especially on Monday. I still wasn’t feeling the best Monday from my small case of pneumonia and Matthew (and everyone else) was so good about making sure I was feeling okay. I was working on the computer in the breakroom typing up some manuscripts for Matthew and he kept poking his head in to make sure I was feeling okay. He kept telling me I could go home if I didn’t feel well and he would even drive me back to DCU if I wanted. Although I did feel really sick, I actually felt better just knowing that everyone here was looking out for me.

I really wish that Matthew had been our supervisor throughout this whole summer instead of Nigel. Especially because in most ways he basically was! I barely ever saw Nigel and never really worked with him, plus he was gone three of the seven weeks we were interning and was even gone for our last week. He always seemed too busy to be bothered to deal with Blair and me and so the two of us were often on our own in finding tasks to do. But Matthew took us under his wing and always made sure he had work for us to do over at Beggars Bush. He was always so grateful too! Even when I was doing something as simple as typing up a manuscript he would tell me how much he appreciated it, how important it was, and how much it was helping him out. I think a task, any task, is so much easier and more gratifying when you feel like it’s actually helping someone and you’re a benefit to the organization. That’s what Matthew does, he makes me feel like I’m really valued here and that’s something I never felt from Nigel.

Alice, Rebecca, Me, and Emir... I miss them already!

Honestly I think it’s the people I got to work with this summer that really made the entire experience so much better! On my last day I started off at the Natural History Museum on Merrion Street so I could say goodbye to my co-workers there. We took some pictures, including a bunch of funny ones with the animals. I also got to take a lot more pictures of the museum and also went up to the galleries to take some pictures of the different specimens I got to work with throughout the summer. As I was standing there, on the top balcony looking down at the museum, I really started to get sad at having to leave it. And not just sad at leaving the museum in general, but also having to leave all those people.

Alice is moving to Chicago at the end of October and I gave her my contact information so we could get together when I’m back home for Christmas. She said she definitely wanted to get together for a drink so I really hope we do.

Alice, Rebecca, Emir, and Me in front of the Hippo!

I’m already thinking about how I want to come back and visit the museum once its reopened and get to see everyone again. A friend of mine is starting her PhD program at Trinity College in the fall and I’m already making plans to come visit her. Hopefully during these visits I can head back to the museum and visit there too!

I ended my internship at Beggars Bush where I took more pictures and said some more goodbyes.

Rebecca and me on my last day :-(

Honestly I didn’t actually do anything on Wednesday (my last day) except really say goodbye to everyone. (Which was perfect since I’d had a late night the night before, haha).

Leaving this internship behind is by far the hardest part about leaving Dublin. I thought leaving the actual city, leaving the pubs, leaving the sites would be the hard part. But instead it’s leaving behind this museum and these people. Saying goodbye- that’s definitely the hardest part. When I left the musuem and then Beggars Bush for the last time I was surprised at how emotional I felt at having to say goodbye. But in the end I was grateful- because I’d rather be sad at having to leave because it was such a great internship than glad its finally over because I had a bad time there.

I guess it just all goes back to that old saying- don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened. And I’m definatley smiling.

Smiling on my last day as I leave the museum because it really was an amazing summer!

written by

kmr788 on July 23, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland

Send a Compliment

comment on this...