When you're back in school, just hold the spider!

The first day of school is coming up, and I wanted to share with you a story that I promise has a cool little life lesson attached!

For as long as I can remember, I have been terrified of spiders. Terrified to the point that I would frequently have nightmares that big, furry spiders were crawling around in my bed or descending from my ceiling, which would result in me running screaming from my bedroom in my sleep. This fear of mine is completely irrational; I have never had a bad experience with a spider. For whatever reason, they just freak me out. (Picture @ left: Me at the Museum of Science being scared of the black widow spider display!)

When the MAS went to the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) convention in Boston in February, I unexpectedly had to come face-to-face with my fear! Chris Mitchell, one of our first volunteers, (see the interview I did with him as an Aspiring Scientist ) brought along his menagerie of cool animals, including a turtle, a scorpion, a corn snake, and (gulp) a rose-haired tarantula (picture @ right)! When I first found out there was going to be the very object of my nightmares within 3 feet of me I was so creeped out. I could feel my face flushing red, my heart rate pick up, and my hands start to shake a little---but I was trying to keep it together because we were at a very important science convention and we were literally surrounded by hundreds of influential people. The tarantula arrived along with the rest of the animals, and for the first couple hours I tried my best to avoid it.

As the day wore on, I started to feel more comfortable with the spider’s presence. Chris had the tarantula out (picture @ left), and I observed it from afar. Slowly but surely, I became fascinated by it. I was watching how it moved its legs, and I realized how similar its legs were to my fingers. Eventually, I realized that if I was every going to conquer my fear of spiders, now was the time. So, I held it (picture below @ right)! And it was one of the coolest thing I have ever done! Its weight was evenly distributed to its feet, so it felt weightless and a little heavy at the same time. I also remember the bottoms of its feet being cool. I was so glad I did it. To this day, I am still a little creeped out by spiders, but nowhere near like I used to be!

Anyways, the reason I shared this story with you is because I got a phrase out of it that has become a staple in my vocabulary: just hold the spider. It reminds me to just be brave when I need courage!

There are going to be moments in your life where you need to just hold the spider. Being a student especially requires bravery on a daily basis. It takes courage to raise your hand and ask a question. It takes courage to realize when you are struggling with something, to actually admit it to yourself, and to get the help you need for it. It takes courage to try out for a sport, or to reach out to other people to make friends. If you remember to just hold the spider, you will conquer these fears and discomforts and grow from the experience.

Ambrose Redmoon, a writer from the 1960’s, once said that “courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear,” and I could not agree more with this statement. It is completely okay to be afraid of things in life from time to time, but never let them hold you back from experiencing things. I hope you keep this in mind as you go back to school. Just hold the spider, and remember, as always, to think, explore, learn!

~Sara