Masters Thesis Defense

Today Andrew defended his masters thesis. He nailed it. I’m bursting with excitement and pride; he has worked so hard for the last two years and has just about earned his first graduate degree. Here is his own account of today’s events:

“My presentation was at 9 o’clock and I got there a little early. I took the bus so Jessica could take Emily to our neighbors’ house and drive to campus. I got everything set up and then was waiting for it to start when I saw some of my committee members in the hall. One was in shorts because he had just biked to campus but he changed before coming in. Other than my four committee members, Jessica and one other doctoral student who just started in my program were the only ones there.
The presentation went well. My adviser had told me to prepare for 20-30 minutes and focus on the new pieces of my project (results and conclusions). I talked for longer than I thought I would but it was good. The committee members asked a few questions during the presentation but then we talked for a while afterwards about everything. The attitude was helping to make things better rather than whether or not I would pass. The committee members were all really nice. A few wanted to get out for their vacations so it was nice for them to stay and help out. One committee member had been added since my proposal (it’s a long story) so he asked lots of questions but provided some good feedback too.

Jessica and I were excused to go outside while they talked (Andrew waiting in anticipation. Actually he was looking up APA rules and making changes to his thesis as suggested).

We could hear through the glass that they were laughing and having a good time. They welcomed us back in after about 10 minutes maybe. The new committee member joked that it was a bad idea to add him and that they were saying no, but I pretty much knew that it was a joke. They said yes. I’m working on a few formatting things and I’ll be meeting with my adviser tomorrow to talk about anything else I need to do.”

Emily had been hanging out with our neighbors for 2.5 hours, so I rushed home to pick her up and get some lunch for the both of us. After her nap, Andrew came home and we began our celebrations. First we went to Tri-n-Run so Andrew could have his gate analyzed and fitted for running shoes. His first pair ever…to help him train for his first half marathon ever! He started last week and so far so good. It was a good diversion from thesis work.

Next stop was Red Mango for frozen yogurt. It has been about six months since we’ve had our favorite treat, so it was especially fun to go. Emily is a huge fan too.

We walked to the library from there and picked out a movie to watch after we put Emily to bed. Then we hopped in the car and picked up some pizza for dinner – all in the name of celebration because Andrew passed his thesis defense!