Gallery: Great Digs: Finalists Vie to Live in Museum for a Month
©2010 J.B. Spector/Museum of Science+Industry Chicago01month-at-the-museum
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is looking for one lucky nerd to eat, sleep, breathe and blog about science for a full month this fall. More than 1,500 hopeful science fans entered the "[Month at the Museum](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/)" contest for the chance to live in the museum full-time, explore behind the scenes and basically be a science exhibit themselves from Oct. 20 to Nov. 18. Each contestant submitted a bio, an essay and a one-minute video explaining why they'd be the best museum ambassador ever. Somehow the museum folks whittled it down to just five finalists. Now it's up to you. Meet the finalists, watch their videos and vote for your favorite at [monthatthemuseum.org](http://monthatthemuseum.org) before 5 p.m. October 4. __Above:__ The winner will live, work and be gawked at in this public display cubicle just inside the museum entrance. The museum denizen will have the option of sleeping in the cube, in private quarters up in the professional office area or in the actual exhibits -- including a coal mine, a U-boat rescued from WWII and a toy factory.
©2010 J.B. Spector02johnathan-wilson
[Jonathan Wilson](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/finalists/johnathan-wilson/) is a musician from Lake Charles, Louisiana. From his bio: "If I could be any animal I would be a pterodactyl but if I was in charge of how words are spelled I would eliminate silent P's." Fun fact: "I have a lazy eye when I’m not wearing my glasses, so please make sure no one tells me 'they’ll get stuck like that,' because they are stuck like that."
©2010 J.B. Spector03kate-mcgroarty
[Kate McGroaty](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/finalists/kate-mcgroarty/) lives in Chicago and was most recently a high school theater teacher. From her essay: "I've always wanted to be an explorer. Well, when I was around two I wanted to be a fire truck. After I recovered from the crushing realization that I would never grow wheels, I wanted to go on adventures." Favorite movie: *King of Kong*, a documentary about two men battling to hold the world record in the video game Donkey Kong.
©2010 J.B. Spector04krispijn-larrison
[Krispijn Larrison](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/finalists/krispijn-larrison/) is a windows display artist from Seattle. From his essay: "Curiosity has always been an inherent force propelling me headfirst into the murky unknown. In school, I found that where curiosity did not flourish, something ominous and hollow would take root: boredom. I realized that boredom wasn’t so much a thing, as it was an absence of a thing, the absence of curiosity."
©2010 J.B. Spector05felix-jung
[Felix Jung](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/finalists/felix-jung/) of Chicago is a Flash developer for a software company. He has blogged at [avoision.com](http://avoision.com) *every single day* since June 2002. From his essay: "I am excited at the prospect of being able to wander the corridors, documenting the exhibits as well as the minutiae of the Museum. I’d like to talk with both the curators and the cleaning staff, the gift store clerks and the interns. To me, living at the Museum means getting to know the people as well as the structure."
©2010 J.B. Spector06alexandra-dainis
[Alex Dainis](http://www.msichicago.org/matm/finalists/alex-dainis/) is a senior biology major at Brandeis University. From her bio: "I want to teach the world that you can simultaneously wish to be a rock star and a researcher." Fun fact: She's a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
