Animation Mentor, class 1 and 2

I wanted to start a blog at the beginning of class 1, but here I am at the end of class 2 already =).
Animation Mentor is a wonderful program. THe entire experience has been awesome so far, so if you are sitting on the fence about joining AM, I highly recommend you take the plunge.
I started Animaton Mentor in September 2006. My mentor was Pete Paquette of Blue Sky, and I feel lucky to have had him for my first mentor. He was very tough with his critiques, but fair as well. You really felt you earned your grade! THe first class was an amazing amount of information, and although alot of work, it was really fun and went by fast. My fellow class 1 class mates are a very dynamic group, and we really pushed eachother to work harder. A wonderful thing at AM is that everyone shares. We get to critique our fellow student's work, and you learn so much from doing so. I want my AM friends to succeed. It's such a great learning environment.
Going into AM, I was very intimidated by the fact that I didn't know Maya. It's a struggle at first because not only do you have assignments with new animation principles that you are learning, but trying to learn Maya (which is a MONSTER of program) on top of that. and the graph editor... what's That about??? AM does provide lessons, but it is still an adjustment. After weeks of bumping my way through the program and accidentally making menus dissappear, learning the quick keys, and trying not to destroy my simple models, I feel I have finally killed most of my Maya demons. I was amazed at how many people already knew Maya going in, which is great, so you know you can get help with that.
Class 2 (which I am in my last week of now) my mentor is Mark Behm. I love having Mark as a mentor. He doesn't overwhelm you, but feeds you new stuff to try when you are ready. He is very patient, gives great critiques, and often stays longer than the one hour class time alotted. In class 2, we studied body mechanics. I really enjoyed this class, and alot of the stuff I learned in class one started clicking.
So, ya. Enough with the talking.
Here is my progress reel so far with my most recent shots first. The first three are from class two, and the rest are from class 1.
Comments are encouraged and welcome, though I am sure I am talking to myself =)