Bozeman

I graduate in May. It seems so far away, but I know that it’s so close. The plain fact is that I need to make plans for what will happen after. Am I moving? Am I going to grad school? Am I finding a job? It’s stressful and complicated and I would rather be ahead of the game on it.

Another plain fact is that Montana has ensnared me. I love it here. It’s beautiful, and the culture is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. I want this place to be home, because it already feels like it is. So, if I’m going to making this my for-real, and not just for-summer, home, I need to decide what to do. I have two choices for grad school as far as my field of study is concerned: Montana State University, in Bozeman, and University of Montana, in Missoula. My dad was in town a few weeks back and we checked out the university in Bozeman to see how I felt about it. It’s a five hour drive there, and I did most of the actual driving. Judging by the roads, I bet they have horrifically hard and snowy winters.

Dad and all three of his siblings went to MSU. As far as Montana goes, it’s a pretty safe spot for people heading straight out of high school. Dad was there for his whole PhD, so he knew a lot of things about the campus that weren’t on the tour.

Our tour guide was incredibly shrill. She mentioned that she was in Elementary Education, and it's suited to her. I hope she has a great time yelling at all the little kindergarten kids she will undoubtedly get saddled with. To be honest, I could have done without her. The things that she talked about on the tour don’t really apply to me. Playing to her audience was not her strong suit. She gave me a lot of information on joining sororities and living in dorms and things like that, which are really important if you’re a freshman, but not if you’re planning on a master’s degree. She didn’t seem to get it when I explained to her that these things weren’t all that great and she should talk more about research facilities and how the gym is free.

By the time the tour was over, I didn’t know how to feel about it. The school as a whole didn’t enchant me. A lot of the things I noticed were things that would have suckered me in as an 18-year-old, but at 21 didn’t pique my interest. In another life, I might have gone there, but I’m conflicted about going there now.

The best part of MSU, in my opinion, is the Museum of the Rockies (MOR). Dad and I spent hours wandering around. They have an excellent exhibit on space, as well as an entire hall of dinosaurs. If you’re not familiar, Montana is one of the best spots to find dinosaurs in the world. The dinosaurs that they have at this museum are incredible. I’ve written papers on specimens there, so I was really excited to see them in person for the first time in more than a decade.

Another exciting thing about MOR is their living history farm. They have people running a 1910 farm outside of the museum. They will even cook you dinner on their woodstove! It’s really awesome. I used to work at a similar kind of place, and I feel for the people who are able to stay in character all day.

There's also an entire room of Montana history from like 1850 on. The hall is full of old cars and homebuilt planes, both of which I think are great. A lot of that is my dad's history, given that he lived in the middle of nowhere in the 1940s-50s. There was a full sized model house there that looked so old fashioned to me that I would have placed it back at like 1900, but Dad said it could have been his. It's interesting how some parts of Montana took so long to catch up.

We finished up our day at Santa Fe Reds Cantina downtown. It’s a good spot for Mexican if you’re in the area. I’ve been filling up on Mexican while I’m here because the variety in Halifax is somewhat limited. After all that, we headed home. I wouldn’t call it a great day, but it was still pretty good.

I’m still not sure about MSU. I’ve been thinking about it for some time. I will probably end up applying, but I don’t think that it’s the one for me. Bozeman, on the other hand, I cannot speak about highly enough. It’s young and vibrant, with great restaurants, nightlife, and outdoors activities, including more than one nearby ski hill and great hiking. I wouldn’t be surprised if I spent some more time in the future, but at this time, I’m still just not sure.

Oh! And today is National Honey Bee Day. I have some major bee love, so spend the day showing some affection towards one of the most important creatures on the earth!