Day 193 of a Photo a Day: Passion/Destiny Reborn

A few days ago, after some prompting courtesy of my former instructor and friend Vince, I applied to become a volunteer in the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum.

When I was in the Environmental Visual Communication Program, I spent 3-4 days a week in one of the most incredible museum's in the world. When I was younger, I would nerd out memorizing facts about the reptiles and amphibians of Ontario using the ROM's field guide. But once I was there in person, my life got busy. I found new friends, I found new Toronto families that I wanted to spend time with, I found music in new and exciting ways, and I found new homes. I would go to school, and by the time class was over, I wanted to leave, even though I knew that I was being given this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be within the walls of the ROM. Taking the EVC program was fantastic. It changed my life. But I didn't explore the ROM as nerdily as I thought that I would because...

Life. Gets. Busy.

So now that life makes a little more sense--I am in control and aware and assignment-free--I feel like it's time for me to go back to the ROM. In EVC, I learned how to communicate science visually. In many of the jobs I've taken on in my life, I have scripted this communication--meticulously controlling each element of it in order to best articulate the points that I'm trying to make. Volunteering in the Schad Gallery--talking to real, unpredictable people and trying to communicate science and the environment in real time--is a challenge that I want to take on. It's a way to grow. It's a way to improve. It's a means to reinvigorate my passions for science and the environment. It's a way for me to become more comfortable teaching, and to learn how to teach actively. I want to have kids one day, and these are exactly the kind of skills that will help me to give them a good life.

I had an interview for the Schad Gallery volunteer position today, and was told that I would be coming back in June for an orientation. I can't wait to learn more than I already have from the ROM. I can't wait to have discussions about my interests. I can't wait to help others learn. I am so excited that my passion and my destiny feel reawakened. Let's do this.