Six Degrees of Seperation...

So I have been at an NCCAT Seminar this week, otherwise known as 'vacation' according to my dear husband Jay AND my 'school' husband Matt! Well, it has certainly been anything but (sorta lol) - although it HAS been tremendously enjoyable. I certainly would NOT suggest this particular seminar to just anyone, it is called Everyone Needs a Little Mystery: CSI in the Classroom.

On one hand, being at NCCAT IS like being on vacation...we are 'housed' in dorms that are like hotels. We have our own rooms, with a commons area on the floor. The commons area is like a living room (couches and rocking chairs) it's the evening 'circle-time' hang out place and it has a kitchen attached that is fully stocked - coffee, drinks, snacks, etc. There is a 24-hour computer lab and fitness center (yeah right LOL) and we get three meals a day that are simply AMAZING! Seriously - I would come back just for the food...especially the desserts YUM!

But NONE of that is even the best part - we had several different presenters / teachers throughout the week including a local booksellar, and the Destiny Lab from Moorehead Planetarium. BUT...our MAIN teachers this week were world-renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass and nationally known fingerprint expert Art Bohanan. These men are inovators in their fields - forensic heros, if you will, of mine! You may have heard of Dr. Bill Bass' research facility in Tennessee - the 'body farm' or of the fingerprinting technique using superglue that was patented by Art Bohanan. OMG - to have spent the week learning from them has been simply amazing. We have gathered and analyzed fingerprints, analyzed handwriting samples, created a mold of our footprint, gathered and identified maggots (and other insects) from a corpse, learned how to test for blood, learned how to identify different bones (and age, sex, race from bones) and did DNA fingerprinting. In the end we solved a crime by using all of our new knowledge...

I met some other great, fun, amazing ladies this week too. I know we will be in touch for years - you have to wait 3 years before coming back to an NCCAT seminar. We are already planning a reunion for July 2012 - next time we are meeting at the Ocracoke campus...