The Defense

Ted and John suggested that I wear a flak jacket and Kevlar helmet to my thesis defense, but I didn't want people to think it was ok to actually start shooting at me, so I wore jeans, a pair or Robby's old Vans and a button down shirt instead... Charly asked why I was so dressed up:). I like to present, so i wasn't nervous about getting up in front of all the smarties and selling them my science, I was however a little worried about the general audience questions...you just never know what chink they'll find in your armor. It was all good though, I got through the presentation with only one set of eyeballs struggling to stay open, the questions were more out of interest then out of "what the hell did you just say-ness", and the defense was actually kind of fun. I think the general expectation from people was that there would be this tremendous weight lifted off my shoulders as soon as it was done. The weight didn't actually fall off when I was called Dr. Painter for the first time, in fact I decided to carry it around for a couple more days, maybe I was afraid of the unbearable lightness of being (thanks Kunderda). It's only been within the past day or two that the, "I'm really done" feeling has started to sink in...it's niceeeee. I've been watching cheesy movies and snuggling with Ted..by by grad school quagmire!