Time for playing with fire!

I have always said that I was going to burn all of the papers I had written, notes for studying for quals and comps, all of the notes from meeting with my advisor and committee members,  and all rough drafts. Well, the day finally came. You can see the stack of papers I had.

It took a while, but we got them all burned. Nathan even brought a rough draft of his dissertation to join the fire.

 

If you look closely, you can see that these are graduation caps.

 

 

George Mason Commencement 2014

The big day was finally here. Amy and Brandy were dragged to campus early since I had to be there in time for a breakfast and lesson on how to wear my hood.

 

This poor guy was already tired from celebrating and the event hadn't even started yet.

Then it was time to wait. The whole hooding lesson consisted of us being told to ensure the hood is draped correctly on our arm. They came by to check twice after telling us how to do I three times.

 

Then it was time to line up and start the march from the JC to the Patriot Center. The PhDers pulled up the rear.

 Mark giving his thumbs up to the event.

 

 

One of the cool things about getting your PhD is that you are the only group who get to walk across the stage at commencement.

 

Then it was over and time to turn in the gowns and sit in traffic. Though I am very happy to be done, I have to say that I am a little sad too. This degree was the culmination of 7 years of my life. I will miss the friends I made as well as the professors and wonderful staff. I know that I will still stay in contact with a lot of them, but it won't quite be the same as our weekly meetings, late nights in the library working on homework, a project, or studying for a test, or just seeing them on campus. 

 

And yes, I was the only grad student I say wearing Honors Council cords. :)

Volgenau Convocation: We Made It!!!!!!

It took 7 years, but I am finally done! During that time, I took qualifiers 4 times (don't ask), avoided running out of my comprehensive exam and proposal presentation (that was a close one), spent more time at school with classmates than at home some weeks (never take 4 classes at once), and made a lot of a good friends along the way. But, the day finally came where Mark and I got to be hooded.

We were very happy that we did not have to wait outside in the muggy and crowded parking lot for the convocation to begin. We actually got to wait in the air conditioned Hospitality Suite and even had snacks!

Of course, Lisa was there to keep everything on track and well organized. I really don't know what we would have done during this whole PhD process without her. She kept us and our advisors in line with all of the needed paperwork and deadlines.

Mark and Uday posed with their advisor before the events began.

And, of course, I posed with mine.

 

At convocation, your advisor gets to hood you.

 

 

Next stop, commencement!

 

 

Mark finishes!!!

I can't reiterate too much how important a dissertation support group is to finishing this journey. I really think it is the only way to make it through with some questionable sanity intact. Jeff, Mark and I are now through with John closing in behind us.

I still remember meeting Mark during our compilers' qualifier and asking if he wanted to join John and I in studying for algorithms. Now we are both doctors!!!!

 

And yes, the projector was turned off. :)

Aftermath

Once I was done, it was time to reclaim the dining room. I had been using it as a study and dumping ground for all of my papers and books while I was in the home stretch. I saved all of the papers I wrote, read, the rough drafts of everything, and all of my notes. This may sound strange, but it is not unusual for your advisor to have you do one thing, change it the next meeting, and then want you to revert back at the third meeting. So, I played it safe and didn't through anything away. At my graduation party, I plan on having a big bonfire to burn all of the papers.

Final Defense!!!!!

The day was finally here!!!! After changing everything around to make my presentation a lot less technical while telling more of a story, I was ready! Or at least I pretended to be.

I had a really good turnout for my interrogation, I mean defense, with people having to sit on the floor. Friends from school, work, church, and even family all showed for a total of 34 witnesses. My committee members even commented on the turnout. I did pass though I still wonder if it was because so many people showed and they were afraid of a riot if they didn't pass me.

The important thing is that I left as Dr. Farley. I'm done!!!!!!!

Pre Defense

For anyone preparing for their pre-defense:

1. Make sure it isn't too technical, even if you are getting a degree in a technical field. Try not to show too many mathematical formulas and all algorithms should be in text form (i.e. loop through all flights then do x).
2. Make sure you tell a story from beginning to end so that everyone can following what you are doing and why
3. Make sure to point out what you did. Highlight your contributions!
4. Make sure to explain why what you did is important.  

Once my comprehensives and proposal defense were complete, I was ready for my pre-defense. My advisor had other ideas. Chapters that had been perfect for my proposal needed to be gutted for my pre-defense and I needed to define a lot more algorithms. So, after killing a forest, lots of bleeding papers, a baby, and 4 new algorithms, my advisor said I was finally ready for my pre-defense.

After my comprehensive exam and proposal presentation, I have to say that my pre-defense was a bit of a let down. I practiced with my advisor, with my dissertation support group, recorded myself giving the presentation so I listen to it when driving, etc. Though I had been ready for the inquisition, it was a lot more like a working group meeting. My committee members made comments as I went through the presentation about how I should change x to y, it was too technical (yes, that was the biggest complaint), and that it should tell more of a story.

Mark and John were a lot harsher on it that my committee members.

But, after two hours, I was done and ready to schedule my final defense. Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train coming to meet me. :)