At first, when I heard that we were going on a tour of the Museum of the Earth, I was a little disappointed. I’m someone who usually likes trying everything out myself and just exploring on my own time. But in the end, I’m actually glad we were given a tour of the museum. The tour leader was an enthusiastic woman who brought us on an incredible journey through time by using a fun activity to simulate natural selection.

Learning about the Earth’s history always astounds me, primarily in two ways. Firstly, the fact that we have obtained so much knowledge about the world. The fact that we have managed to learn so much about events that happened millions, even hundreds of millions of years ago blows my mind. I mean, I can’t even remember what I ate for dinner yesterday. The fact that we can know that a specific brachiopod came out of central NY however many million years ago or that it averaged 80 degrees in Ithaca 350 million years ago is so crazy to me.

The exhibits were cool, and information was interesting, but what I took away was really the sense of humbleness and the magnitude of spacetime and Earth’s history. Today’s event just reminded me again about how small we are and how short are lives are in the grand scheme of things, and it gave me a sense of peace to think about how even when bad things happen to us, when you think about it in the scope of Earth’s history, it’s not as significant as it seems at the time. I’m hoping I’ll be able to remember to carry that sense of peace with me throughout college, because it’s a lesson I often forget as I get bogged down with the weight of stress and tests and getting through school.