As many of you already know, my time in the nation’s capital is coming to a close.
As a native Bostonian, I’ve decided to return to the town of beans and 800 national sports championships (before you get mad and angry whisper in your head, “Tom Brady sucks!” – I’m not trying to brag, I don’t care about sports and the number 800 is a loose guess and I know it is nowhere close to accurate).
What a whirlwind the last three years living in this city has been! I’ve had two dope jobs, met probably a thousand people, and made countless new friends. For those who know me personally, you know my favorite thing to do is talk and my second favorite thing to do is laugh. I’ve been extremely lucky that the job I’ve had the past year and a half inherently allowed me to integrate the two. It’s a privilege to be able to describe what you do and have people respond with, “that sounds like the perfect job for you.”
It may seem contradictory for me to describe this as the perfect job for me right as I’m about to leave, and I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how much FUN (!!!) I had doing this job and working for this organization. While I won’t be continuing my role with Gather and I’m moving to a new city hundreds of miles up the coast, there’s no doubt I’ll be bringing with me everything I’ve gained from this city (lessons, friendships, memories, strong feelings about paper straws, expectations of bottomless brunch, Metro escalator etiquette, etc.).
While I’m super duper hyped to be heading back to my hometown and have a fresh start, change freaks me out and it will definitely be bittersweet leaving the city I’ve spent three years building a life in. Like, how will I make friends as an adult when it’s not my job to make friends as an adult? Are you there, Gather? It’s me, Rachel.
Now that this is getting existential, I’m going to wrap this up with a resounding THANK YOU (picture me yelling and doing jazz hands) to Jewish DC, the people I’ve met, the pals I’ve made, and my people at Gather. You’re all extraordinary and I’m so grateful I had the chance to learn and grow with you.
If you’re ever in Boston – holla at me and we can get some beans (ground or otherwise). Love and miss you already DC!
Xoxo Rachel Elizabeth Nieves aka REN <3
P.S. Wish REN a final farewell at racheln@gatherdc.org.
P.P.S. You can apply for REN’s Community Coordinator position here!
