Nerd Camp

While Kate skiied, I attended a dissertation workshop in California. It was quite an intense workshop. There were 12 PhD students, and the workshop actually resembled summer camp in a lot of ways (Kate called the workshop "nerd camp"). We had roommates, and they rang a big bell before meals. The Ph.D. students also bonded really nicely -- I feel like I made a lot of new friends. On the first full day of the workshop we each had to be completely silent for 30 minutes while the group discussed our dissertation projects (we had all read 10 page abstracts of one anothers' projects). This was quite strange, but not as bad as I had feared. On the second full day, we each got to lead a discussion of our own dissertations, and on the third day there were limited activities, and we got to go and play. I joined the largest group, and we went hiking. Here are some pictures: