I thought I’d spend the week after finals relaxing a bit.  Instead, I’ve had class every day from 8:30 to 4:30.  Not that I’m complaining, of course.  The fantastic ecological modeler giving the workshop that’s been eating my days is well worth a few more days of sleep deprivation and an exploded closet (if that doesn’t happen to you during finals week, would you like to be my PA?).

I attended this workshop last summer, too.  The material is essentially the same, but it’s not easy material and it’s not material that I always think about in depth.  Learning some things is a very long process for me – I cover the same points over and over, but at a higher level each time, like walking up a spiral staircase (ok, sometimes it’s more like a maze, or a Temple Grandin design).  While I’ve definitely made a few turns this year working on my own, there’s still so much I don’t fully understand that this workshop has been useful.

Plus, fantastic ecological modeler is a funny and laid back lecturer, which is a good combination when you spend all day covering the board with equations and trying to keep students’ attention.