This is Not My Narrative

Small Epiphanies: December 13

It strikes me now, at 11:21 pm, when I have yet to think of something to write about, that a better Advent project than posting once a day would have been to hang up one of those Advent calendars with the little bits of chocolate behind each number.

Too late.

I am still recovering from my dissertation defense. Or maybe from the whole dissertation process. My advisor, JM, was amazing and kind and thoughtful and brilliant throughout the whole process, and most of course during the defense, especially in the moment I shot her a look of utter panic at a question that had been asked, and she jumped in to assure me that these questions were life-work questions, and not something I had to answer immediately and definitively. Very reassuring, since my head was about to explode.

JM tells me the whole thing went well, and I guess it did, because I passed. I’m going to have to take her word for it, though, because I never once got to that point in the discussion where you forget where you are and just talk, and be in the moment, completely engaged. I never for one second forgot I was in the dreaded dissertation defense, and that’s kind of a shame, looking back, because if I could have relaxed just a bit, and worried less about giving perfect answers, I might actually have had a good time.

But it’s done, and I have only the tiniest of additions to make as far as revisions go, and for that I am grateful.

I’m grateful, too, for my family and friends, who listened to me  talk, bitch, moan, procrastinate, rejoice in new ideas and then immediately doubt them, for the past two years. And to those who officially, or unofficially, shared my office, or had the adjoining one, or who generously shared their experiences at TC–you know who you are–you should really get some sort of co-degree for all your help. Love you guys.

This entry was posted on December 14, 2012 at 4:38 am and is filed under Small Epiphanies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.