Goodbyes Can Be Nice

Today I wrapped up my last lab in my Imaging Science class. It’s a relatively easy course for non-majors to get their science credits fulfilled. As part of the course requirement, there is a lab.

I went into lab with 2 people I had kind of known for the past year, and we were going to need 2 more members. We walked into a lab room on the first day, and 2 other people joined our group. Groups were not assigned for the entire semester, but no one really wanted to bother changing groups (if it isn’t broken, don’t bother fixing it).

There was always a bit of downtime in the labs, which of course leads to off topic conversation. It was nice to have a conversation with a group of people that I didn’t really know 10 weeks ago. We never got very close or made plans outside of our scheduled lab time, or even sit together in lecture.

The end of our last lab today was just as anyone would expect. We got up and left. I said goodbye to the two people I knew prior to lab, as they still had to pack up their belongings, and I left with the two people I hadn’t known prior. We left the building, not talking much except for a comment or two. As we left the building, we all when separate ways, saying our goodbyes.

It was really nice.

I know it probably seems weird to reflect on something so insignificant, but it was really nice to have completed a small part of our lives, and be able to move on separately, with no need to stay in touch. We all will experience many temporary relationships in our lives, from jobs we worked briefly, hobbies we grew out of, to any time we had to leave some sort of community, whether it be big or small.

I’ve experienced this multiple times through part time jobs I had in high school and internships I’ve had. Being able to connect with people with an understanding that this just a passing part of each other’s lives is really refreshing. We get to learn from new people and experience new things, but eventually, these parts of our lives end. I don’t think these have to be sad endings, but instead should be looked at as a tied bow on the gift of new experiences. A nice concrete ending is satisfying.

These parts of our lives vary in significance of course. My time on my first summer internship and the people I met there will have a much longer lasting affect on me than my lab group that met for only a handful of hours, but none the less, they are nice.

There is nothing that makes a relationship necessarily temporary either. If we have a connection with a group or individual, we can make sure to keep the relationship alive. This is especially easy with the internet and our ease of access to communication we have today.

That being said, some goodbyes are sad, particularly with those that are more significant in our lives. Some goodbyes are for short amounts of time, maybe one summer, but others are longer. Some goodbyes are permanent, but we may not know that at the time.

It’s ok to have sad goodbyes, but we should appreciate the goodbyes at we have that serve as a bookend to a part of our lives, whether that part be big or small.