My Turn

Well the time has come for me to contribute something to our little blog. I was so proud of the first post that my lovely counterpart wrote, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say "well done" and "way to set the bar high" and "great post" and "The Sandlot is the greatest kids movie ever." I know that last one had nothing to do with the previous post but I still think I can speak for everyone when I say that. Upon Ann's repeated insistence I am writing this post and have been wanting to for sometime but I told her that I would wait until "something happened" before I did. Well I think that one of my best friends getting married and passing my first thesis committee meeting qualifies so here goes...

This weekend my good friend Stephen Hasselbring married Jill Dyer in Nashville, TN. I was fortunate enough to be in the ceremony and Andrea and I, along with my family and several other guest got to enjoy the wedding and the killer reception at the Hermitage Hotel (a Nashville landmark) At least in our eyes the whole thing went off without a hitch, the music, ambiance, and most importantly the food was great! It was really great to actually get to see the inside of the Hermitage, I had never been there but had heard so much about it and had had a few friends stay there when they got married.

After the reception was over Ann and I thought for about five seconds that we were going to go see the new Batman movie...that was until we sat still for more than a minute and let the exhaustion of the last couple of days catch up to us. Also, it didn't help that I was just getting over a sinus infection and Ann was still battling one. So we postponed the cinema trip until the next night. Sun night my Bride-to-be, Adam and Katie Beth Allen, JD Hindman and I went to eat at Cheesecake Factory in Green Hills and then went to go see the much anticipated movie.

It. Was. Phe. Nom. In. Al. I mean, incredible, you know those movies that you build up so much in your head that when you go see them you are secretly disappointed but you go with a big group of people and you have all made such a big deal about it that you spend the whole way home saying "oh yeah it was all i expected" but secretly you die a little inside because there is just no way that Pirates of The Caribbean 2 and 3 were anywhere near as good as the first. Well this was completely the opposite. I have been reading reviews and bits of info on this movie for months now and it still blew my expectations out of the water. I can't wait to see it again, I will for sure be going to back to the theater to watch it because I'm afraid that I might have missed about half of it because Ann and I would just poke and stare at each other every other scene in awe. I was so glad that I got to go see it with my future spouse - we have been talking about it for months and it was great to getting to see it for the first time together!

After this great weekend what could be better than having to most important meeting/presentation of my nascent career right? Well that was just what happened - on Mon. afternoon I had my first Thesis Committee meeting to determine how I was progressing and when I might be able to qualify for candidacy. See there are various stages in the program I'm in. Obviously these are not technical terms just come general ideas about how it works.

1. Rotational Student - spending about 3 months in different labs to find a match for you to do your dissertation in


2. New to the Lab - have picked a lab but not formed your committee and are getting preliminary data to define your project


3. Moving towards qualifying - have had a committee meeting or two but not qualified


4. Doctoral Candidate - have passed both a written and oral qualifying exam by your thesis committee


5. Scribe - writing your dissertation and preparing to Defend


6. PhD - successfully passed your public and private defenses

I just got through #3, and this went pretty well. At each committee meeting the student gives and 45 min-1 hr talk about their research and what they have been doing and then the committee basically grills them about it for a while until they are satisfied that the student knows what they are talking about and are actually doing the work. Yesterday was my first meeting so it went pretty well, they generally take it easier on the first one. As soon as I got done I went and called Andrea to tell her how we had done. She had been so supportive leading up to my meeting and had been texting me and praying for me all day. I can't say enough what a blessing she is in my life and how thankful I am for her!

Anyway, I think I have rambled on for far too long so I suppose the "blogging ball" is now firmly in my more capable fiance's hands.