Museums offer a place for more than just displaying art, science and the events of the past. Museums are places for people to get lost in and discover interests and passions on display, to learn about the past and look at the future of what these showcases are teaching us. 

For some, like myself, museums even push us to pursue or engage with fascinations we had growing up. As a kid, I was fascinated by dinosaurs and wanted to get my hands on everything I could that involved them. Every rock I picked up, I hoped would contain some sort of fossil that I could take home. I had books of all kinds of dinosaurs — picture books, science books, dictionaries — and I would read them over and over. When my family and I would go to the Manitoba Museum, I would wander around all the exhibits, but when it came to the dinosaur and prehistoric history sections, I would become fully immersed in what the museum had to offer. 

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden would also inspire me. Morden is a hot spot for fossil discovery, so it was only reasonable that I had to go there. Being a fossil museum, every display was like looking at gold for me. Every weird, iconic and niche dinosaur and prehistoric reptile I saw, I had to know everything about, which would lead to me talking my parents’ ears off about everything I saw. 

There was one fossil centre, however, that would set my interest in stone and shape me and what I wanted my future to look like.

When I was around fourteen years old, we took a road trip to Alberta to visit some family. One of the major activities we did was take a trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, a paleontology museum and the highlight of my trip. Everything I could think of seeing was in there, and much more.

I read every card of information, watched every video and walked through every exhibit, doing anything I could do to fill my head with as many dinosaur facts as possible. When I reached the end, I realized my dad and I were the only ones from my family left there — everyone else went back home. I didn’t even notice I was there for over six hours. When we caught up with everyone else, my uncle asked what I thought about one of the plant exhibits. I was confused, though. I didn’t see the exhibit he was talking about. I dragged my dad back to the museum that night to make sure I didn’t miss anything and spent another hour and a half going through it again.

If it wasn’t for these trips to museums and fossil centres, I doubt I would’ve chosen the courses that I did and pursued my interest as I have. Those exhibits, for many people, are more than just cool information booths. They are a confirmation that their interests are things to chase after. They are examples of their love of art and science on display to inspire them to reach for their dreams.