I flew back to West Lafayette in mid-July to defend my dissertation. It was a fantastic trip! My friend Jenn picked me up at the airport, I stayed the night at her house and then headed to school with her the next day. I got to have breakfast with Andy and Abigail and then headed back to campus for the moment of truth! It was a great defense. Here's essentially what happens at a dissertation defense: You and your committee (4 faculty members who are experts in various facets of what you do, i.e., methods, content) meet in a room. They ask you to leave and you wait outside while they chat about your project (which they have all read and all approved during a similar prospectus defense that you had prior to actually doing the project). They bring you back into the room. You give a brief synopsis and then they ask you questions for about an hour and half. They then ask you to leave again. And then when they call you back in they say, "Congratulations, Dr. Williams!" or "Sorry!" Luckily, I got the first greeting and as of July 13th, I've been breathing a bit easier :-)
It was a great celebration after the defense. Stacey, my FANTASTIC advisor and I went for coffee and then we met Jenn for pedicures. It was just the relaxation I needed! Jenn then dropped me off at Kari's where I spent the night. We got ready and a group of us went to dinner in downtown Lafayette to celebrate my success and Eileen's birthday. After dinner a big group met us out for drinks. It was a perfect night!
Jenn, Stacey and me--we have had so much fun together!
Vicky, Raven and Abigail
Eileen and Kari
With the birthday girl!
V.O.!!!
Of course no post is complete without a picture of Grace. Here she is at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company. We stopped there to get gifts for my committee before I flew out to W.L.
1 comment:
Love the pictures! Miss you!!
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