Introducing The Dragons

Oooh la la it feels good to be back in blogging form!  Today's post is to introduce my dragons-- the three students I have been working with, and spending almost every waking our with, and learning with, and puking with (giardia, not Tusker), and enjoying life with the last few months:  Caitlin, Maureiq, (me), and Leah.  I have always claimed to have an eye for talent (I once even threatened to become a baseball scout, but biology is just too lucrative fun to give up as a career), but this time I have outdone myself-- not only are each of them wonderful as individuals, we have all become great friends.

I affectionately refer to them as my dragons (and they call me Khaleesi, inspired by Game of Thrones... one of our occasional evening indulgences) because they are the most fantastic, fierce, talented team I could ask for in order to convert my overly ambitious pipedream of a workshop schedule into a successful reality that surpassed even my own often wildly optimistic ideas of what could be.  Each of them has a unique set of gifts, which has been fun to watch develop as we have worked together the last few months.  But really, they can all do everything-- and together they have made something that might have been good, into something awesome.  Outside of work, they are also amazing artists (visual and martial), dancers, singers, bakers, paddlers, athletes, and adventurers.  They are fun, funny, and fearless.  Can you tell how grateful I am for their contributions?  I hope they also know.