Python... hissssss

Last week I sat through my very first Python class at Betamore. In the past, I have only 'pinged' my computer with the help of an IT specialist, and have serious fear of white letters blinking against a black screen....  So it wasn't to surprising that within the first 5 minutes my throat began constricting and my heart rate was rising.... I wanted to run away....  Along with that, my hand went up with such frequency that I finally just left it there. The instructor was likely exasperated.  After a few deep breaths, I decided to just push through the class and save questions for the end. Three hours later, I had some idea of how great Python could be (which is why I had taken the class in the first place), but I still had no clue how to start. 

I set out this week with new resolve and found a few resources that I'm going to try. The Coursera class through Rice U. will take the next 7-9 weeks and I'll supplement with Code Academy & Python Monk. 

When I'm finished with that, I'll try to apply my glorious new Python skills to GIS. Some other free resources:
ESRI - Using Python in ArcGIS 10.1 
Penn State online course

We'll see how this goes... wish me luck!