( CNN ) -- One of the exhibits at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has come to life , literally . It 's reminiscent of the wildly popular `` Night at the Museum , '' movies , except this is real . Twenty-four-year-old Kate McGroarty is living at the museum for a month , roaming the large 14-acre space , exploring every nook and cranny at all hours of the day and night , sleeping where she wants , and basically seeing sights that most people never get to see . McGroarty won a `` Month at the Museum '' promotional contest , beating out 1,500 other applicants for the opportunity to call the museum home for a few weeks . She won based in part on her answer to a question about how a month in a museum could change or transform a person 's life . `` I 've always loved this museum , and I 've always really loved adventure . And I 'm hugely passionate about education , and I saw this as really interesting social experiment and an interesting education-through-social-media kind of experiment , '' says , McGroarty , who will get $ 10,000 at the end of her month-long stay . Museum of Science Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Rob Gallus concedes that the `` Night at the Museum '' movies were part of the whole `` whimsy '' of the Month at the Museum promotion . `` Everybody wonders , 'Wow , what would I do if I were alone in the museum at night ? Where would I go ? What would I see ? What strange things do happen after dark in the museum ? ' '' says Gallus . McGroarty , who works for a travel company in Chicago as well as working in local theater , moved into the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere last week . She has a couple of private rooms near the museum 's administrative offices and a large , glass cube science office . It 's her exhibit display case on the museum 's main level , where she updates her daily online blog and tweets about what she 's learning and seeing . `` She has unlimited access to every nook and cranny of the museum . She can sleep on the U-505 submarine or in the smart home . She can get to all those out of the way places that people ca n't get to , '' Gallus told CNN Radio . Her meals are catered , and she can leave the museum as needed for errands or other reasons . Part of McGroarty 's responsibilities for the month require that she mingle with museum guests . And she says that 's been a lot of fun . She 's become a sort of rock star of sorts , with crowds flocking to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry to see her and follow her online . `` I love , love interacting with the school groups that come by . They have the best questions , '' she says . `` They 're so inquisitive . They 're so energetic . I love them . And just seeing how they react to all the exhibits is so exciting for me . '' At night , museum staff members are on duty as are the usual security personnel , but in the sprawling complex they may be under the same roof yet not-so-near at the same time . `` It is a completely different world , '' says McGroarty . `` It 's not spooky . If anything it 's just a very quick and hard transition from there being so many people -- like on Saturday , we had 4,200 people in attendance . Then to go from that to just the security staff -- it 's a big staff , but it 's also an enormous museum . So you can walk around for long periods of time without seeing absolutely anyone . I would n't call it scary . I would say it is a different kind of experience , maybe a little bit spooky , but nothing to keep me in my room at night . '' McGroarty does n't have a set schedule of displays or exhibits she plans to explore during her month-long adventure , but she said she does have one very definite must-do before her adventure is over . She plans to climb to the top of the museum 's dome to see the sunrise over Lake Michigan . McGroarty explains , `` I 've found that a key part of this program is trying to find a balance between experience and exploring things , and then interacting with people who are physically at the museum and interacting with people who are in the online community . '' McGroarty , originally from Minnesota , attended Northwestern University in Illinois and majored in theater . She graduated two years ago and has spent time teaching , performing and writing . She laughingly jokes , `` I 'm not certain if anyone ever had this particular job in mind . '' McGroarty says the whole experience , so far , has been very overwhelming . She 's shot to sudden fame -- she 's getting tweets from people around the country who are following her adventures in the museum . `` Last night I was talking to a woman who said that her daughter , her 7-year-old daughter , is so into this , she comes home every day and checks to see if I 've made a blog update , '' says McGroarty . `` This is day five . And she has to tell her daughter that she has to finish her homework before she can read my blog post . ''
Kate McGroarty won a promotion contest to spend a month in a museum . She 's in her second week at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry . McGroarty has developed a fan following on Twitter and among visitors to the museum . The first time she visited, people were lining up for hours outside the doors.