As I began graduate school in the Entomology Department at Penn State, I have reflected a lot about why I’m here and how I found my way. In this reflection and rumination, I have realized that natural history has always been something that ensnared my attention, even when it was unintentional. Similarly, I find the smallest notes attached to specimens in the Frost Museum to cause me to really want to investigate further.
As a child, I was extremely fortunate to spend hours in the woods, just wandering, playing, and thinking. While there weren’t always great opportunities for learning in the classrooms of my very small, rural school, the woods drew me in. I could stare at moss or sketch the way the water flows over a rock or try to imitate the sound of a squirrel or a bird overhead.
As an adult, it becomes increasingly easy to find oneself so busy that in the past 6 months, 3 years, etc that there are very few solitary moments in nature at all. In the museum, however, I find little fascinating observations are around us daily, if we know where to look.
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