At 3354 Adeline: This Isn't Goodbye

Wendy Ung did many things during her time as a NaNoWriMo intern: she was a grammar wrangler, a YouTube star-in-the-making, and an all-around gem. We’re crushed to say goodbye:

Like they say, all good things must come to an end. 

This is the end of my internship at NaNoWriMo. 

I’m actually at a loss of what I should say. I blame it on a mixture of disbelief and sadness. How do I even begin to say goodbye to the everyone and everything at NaNo HQ? I am incredibly grateful to the awesome staff for taking a chance on me and letting me experience the underbelly of a nonprofit. Working here honed necessary skills and taught me life lessons that will help me in all my future endeavors. 

I introduced myself with a bullet point list, and I shall include it in my last post here. (It comes full circle.) What I will miss most about working at NaNoWriMo: 

Hearing the laughter echo in NaNo HQ. I may not know the reason behind the laughter, but I’m weirdly comforted by the sound. 
Getting treated to tacos. I know I can get more tacos even when I’m not at this internship, but tacos! Never enough tacos. 
Live-streaming! I had initially been extremely apprehensive about it, but as I continued to host Virtual Write-Ins with my fellow intern pal, Katharine, I began to look forward to every Wednesday where I was waving my arms around, pumping my fists, giving everybody thumbs up for getting their word count up, and dancing weirdly. Now, I just have an itch to livestream. It’s like I’m going through withdrawal.
Getting in touch with authors, educators, and NaNoWriMo participants for interviews. I love hearing from them and their excitement. Every time I get a response, I internally shriek in joy. 
Posting on the blog. It may be repetitive, but I enjoy doing it. Just sitting down, and gathering images and interview responses. It’s relaxing.
Hearing all the food places that everybody on staff rave about. I am a hermit, so I don’t venture out to new places (because it’s kind of scary not knowing what to order and I’m incredibly indecisive), but thanks to the staff, I have a list of places I must pig out at.
Interacting with the NaNo community. I can feel your enthusiasm every time I talk to you. You guys are awesome! 
Leaving NaNo HQ for the day, bidding everybody a “goodbye” and “see you tomorrow/next week” in a sing-song voice.
And many more that I can’t remember. If I try to think of all the awesome things that I will miss, this goodbye post will never end. (Maybe that’s a good thing?)

I’m unsure of what adventure I’ll be taking on next; it’s really scary, but no matter what, I will kick butt. 

This isn’t goodbye. Who knows, you might see me in a livestream. Until then, I bid you, adieu. 

— Wendy

Wendy hails from the Bay Area, where she frolics in the shade (since she and the sun are not really friends right now). She graduated from Mills College with a degree in Creative Writing. She spends most of her days huddled in a book fort, scribbling ideas for her work-in-progress stories and praising the many YA books she reads. She will emit a dinosaur noise from the back of her throat when she gets excited about books and anything pop culture.

Top photo by Flickr user 6SN7.