This Day in History

On this day two years ago, I defended my dissertation!

It was a very hot day in Illinois, unusually hot for June. Jeff, Dad, Marvis, and Laura were in the audience. I brought all kinds of treats for the committee and the rest of the audience, including pirozhkis specially baked by the nice Russian lady at the Farmer's Market. My dad was the only person to ask a question before the committee kicked out the audience to grill me in private. They didn't actually ask me any really hard questions or anything. I did have to show one committee member where a certain proof was within the dissertation, and then they asked me to add a section with some more results at the end, which I dutifully did.

That evening, we all went out to dinner with my aunt and uncle and cousins as a family celebration, and then the next day I had a huge party, to which I invited basically everyone whom I knew and could tolerate, although with the exception of a few relatives and my parents-in-law and a friend from way back when, it was mostly just locals who attended. I held it at a city park on a lake, and my guests got to paddle on the lake in canoes and paddleboats. In addition, I had a sheet cake saying "Congratulations, Dr. Rebecca!" on it. The invite list, the location, and the cake were the only requirements I had for my party. It was a lot of fun to celebrate the accomplishment of a lifetime with my friends and family.

Of course life carries on even after you've accomplished something wonderful. Unlike a book, which would have spent maybe a few more pages summing things up, or a movie, which probably would have cut to credits right after the party, in real life this was just one event in the course of time. Since then we have moved to a new state, I started an actual job, and we had a baby, amongst other things. But that was still a great two days and it felt like such a relief to finally be done with school, even if it only meant I was moving on to something else.