Begin Chapter : Southeastern Louisiana University / Curatorial Assistantship / Master's Degree
Goodbye Windy City! Helloooo Deep South B-)
..............There are more personnel! This is just a screenshot.
The time for me to leave Chicago is approaching. Chicago... a city that used to irritate me but that I've come to love. I moved here solely to work in the Field Museum of Natural History. The rest of the city was noise. At first. But something changed. I got used to the noise and then I started to LIKE the noise!
I'm already feeling heartsick, especially at the thought of parting with the museum. For the past year, this place has been Home. There's no question that I spent more time here than my own apartment. I keep a toothbrush, shampoo, shoes and clothing in my locker. I have bookshelves and cabinets in the herpetology offices and labs. I know the security guard rotation and the name of every exhibit.
I've been working here 7 days a week to support my habit which is articulating skeletons (5 days for pay, 2 days for pleasure). I work Thursday through Sunday for the Guest Relations Department, selling admissions tickets in the lobby. On Tuesdays and Wednsdays, I arrive in plainclothes and descend two levels below ground to chip away at projects under the supervision of Alan Resetar, Herpetology Collections Manager. I already feel sad little pangs thinking about no longer being able to talk to Alan all the time. I'll miss seeing Bob Inger and Tom Anton, and having coffee and lunch with Fui Lian Tan. I'll miss these halls, the stairwells and the smells. I'll miss the collections (naturally). I'll also miss Sue, the looming tyrannosaurus in the photo below. I know that I'm moving onward and upward with this next opportunity (M.S. Biology program, Southeastern Louisiana University) and I expect to return in a few months to collect data but I'm still allowed to feel a little sad aren't I? I'm so lucky so have nothing but fond memories of this beautiful place...
Snapple Fact! --> Biologist friends make for excellent tour groups.....Left to right: Amy Miller (Purdue), Author, Nick LaBonte (Purdue), Miles Comiskey (Lane Tech College Prep), Nahdia Ahmed (Brookfield Zoo) and Antti Rousi (Aalto University). !Cecilia! !LaBonte! (Purdue) must be taking the picture.
Walking my friends through one of the massive rooms where some of the museum's zoological collections are housed. We're looking at marine invertebrates.
Showing off a little (handiwork).
Showing off a lot (more handiwork).
Some of my earliest memories are set in the exhibit halls of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY. Looking up at the towering knees and distant neck of the adult sauropod in the main lobby is one.
Aiming a camera for the first time and snapping my first photograph is another. The subject; an upright brown bear.
I remember the hall of reptiles and amphibians. It's entryway flanked by one alligator and one crocodile, each basking in a rectangular dust-proof glass case on the floor. I remember extending my baby hand at a right angle and planting it at the level just above the gator's nares, so I must have been about 30 inches tall.
I vividly remember dino-shaped chicken nuggets.
I was brought back there over and over again year after year. When I was old enough, I went there by myself. My parents have since moved to Connecticut but I still trickle back in from time to time.
Last week, I opted to be in the exhibit halls on my 25th birthday.
Earlier today, at 6pm, I emerged from the collection and headed towards the exit. The museum was completely quiet. I entered the main lobby and out from beneath the sauropod display scurried a brown city mouse. Right then, I felt sure that my life was on track.
