My journey comes to an end...

So i'm back in Texas, and the heat is killing me. I never thought that, being a born and raised Texan, I would ever loose my immunity to the 100 degree weather, but I am definitely having to readjust. I'm also readjusting to life not at Microsoft, and that is the hardest part. I already miss my friends so much, and I had to cry a little on Monday when I wasn't going to work. But if I look at the positive, who can say they love their work that much! I feel so privileged not only to have had the experience of a lifetime, but to have been able to prove to myself that this is my passion, and what I truly want to do with the rest of my life. I've come home so inspired to learn more, and work harder. As hard as it was to leave, I look back with only amazing memories and lessons and now have the rare opportunity to do nothing with my time but learn, learn, learn. I just have to remember that if I work hard enough, that summer can be extended to full time.

Its been nice being home though. My parents and grandma picked me up from the airport, and my mom had a Welcome Home banner and balloons for me at the house. My dad had made a great dinner and we had some family friends over. I've definitely been a little bored during the days, but have had lots of time to rest and unpack, and am even starting some reading for a class I will be taking this semester. And of course I will get to spend lots of time with my Granny! I'm finally getting used to the idea of being home, and actually got excited (for about a minute this morning) to go back to school. 

I will just back track a little on my last few days at Microsoft. The second to last day, we did presentations for all the Explorers. Everyones project was really great! I was very impressed with all of us, how much work we all managed to get done in one summer, and how professional everyones projects turned out. Our project was probably the most unique. We were one of the only groups to have a project that was so focused on user experience and a "coolness factor" for users. Most of the projects were more technical, and more aimed and admins, where as ours was aimed at college students and had way more UI. After presentations, we went kayaking. It was our LAST explorer event!!! We had a good time though. We split into groups, and I was in the second. While the first group went on the lake, the other half of us went with our recruiter down to Alki beach. We walked around and played in the water. She showed us her favorite condo (Alki is lined with amazing condos) and we even went in and took a tour of the model rooms. It was GORGEOUS! We decided she needed to buy it so all the explorers could go live with her next summer. It had floor to ceiling windows, and a beautiful roof view of the beach. We finally got to get on the lake, my roommates and I got a triple seat boat. It was a pretty interesting experience, I had never been kayaking before. But being on the water with the Seattle skyline in the background was so gorgeous. We only stayed out for a little while because the first group had been on the water for awhile, and we needed to get back. (Thank goodness my arms were killing me). The next day, our last day, we had a goodbye lunch with our team. It was so sad to be seeing everyone for the last time, but so nice for everyone to come to say goodbye. We also had a presentation to our VP. He seemed to like or project, so that was pretty exciting. We cleaned out our desks, and took some final pictures, cried a little, then went home to finish packing. We met all the explorers and our recruiter later at ihop for a final goodbye dinner. Then we went to an explorers place and had a pinata party. It was pretty funny but was nice to hang out with everyone one last time. We said goodbyes, then had some of our friends over to hang out at our apartment. We all just finished packing and sat around the table and talked. It was a pretty low key night. We tried to stay up all night, but I finally went to bed around 3:30. It was sooo sad to say goodbye to my roommates (we did our goodbyes before we went to sleep), but I did make plane tickets to go to NEW YORK to visit my roommates!!! So I have a countdown going until I get to see them again, I'm sooo excited!

 

All the explorers before we went kayaking

My roomies and I!

Kayaking for the first time!

Beautiful skyline

My last day at work

The last party with the explorers

Pinata party

Well, thats about it. Thanks to everyone who kept up with my blog, its been a great summer and I have loved being able to share my experiences. I will keep writing, but way less frequently. Only when cool things happen at school.