An eight-year childhood dream turned into reality on August 1 for Mishanli Easteryna Yanthan, a 14-year-old Grade IX student of Hope Academy, Dimapur, and one of Nagaland’s youngest published authors, when she stepped into Canada’s world-renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

For Mishanli, the visit marked the fulfilment of a dream that began in 2018, when she was just six years old. During a chance meeting with Canadian visitor Julian Erb, a conversation about dinosaurs introduced her to the Royal Tyrrell Museum for the first time.

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Fascinated by what she learned, the young student resolved to one day visit the internationally acclaimed museum. Determined to turn that dream into reality, she also set herself the ambitious goal of helping fund the journey through her own writing.

Her passion for storytelling soon translated into achievement. In 2020, she published her first book, The Unforgettable Trip to Drumheller and Other Stories, followed by The Prehistoric Adventure in 2022. Both books were later procured by the Nagaland Education Mission Society under Samagra Shiksha, recognising her literary talent at a young age.

The visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum now stands as the culmination of years of determination, imagination and perseverance, transforming a childhood fascination with dinosaurs into an unforgettable real-life