I flew to Champaign, Illinois on July 8th and went straight to our office space there to finish preparing for the practice presentation I was going to deliver to three of my lab mates. My practice talk that day was the first time I had gone through any version of a verbal delivery, and while it was acceptable it was pretty convoluted and choppy. My lab mates had some excellent suggestions for improving clarity and and presentation content. All in all I was really thankful to have had the chance to practice for them - it really helped improve my final talk. Monday night my old roommate Laura picked me up from campus because I was car-less, and we stopped by her apartment so I could see her dog (who lived with us when we were roommates) and meet her new dog. She then brought me to Marinell's condo (my neighbor who I like to stay with) and the three of us had dinner together before I holed up in "my" bedroom and continued to work on my presentation.
Tuesday was lined up to be a busy day for me, with two scheduled meetings and presentation work. I walked a mile to the closest bus stop and then bused into campus on what used to be one of my regular bus routes. I talked to my Dad on the phone while I walked, and he told me he was on his way to Burlington for a client meeting. As I was walking down the road my department's building is on I called the caterer to confirm the delivery for my Wednesday presentation. As I was ending the call I heard screaming female voices come rushing up behind me, and as the thoughts "I'm the only person around," "I don't know any girls on campus anymore," "I'm confused" rushed through my head my sisters Alex and Christine threw their arms around me. I had NO idea they had planned a trip to Illinois to watch my presentation! It is very common for family to attend, but I had told everyone it was a short talk and the flights were too expensive so they should just watch remotely (I was going to set up a video feed). Needless to say, I was thrilled to see them and completely shocked. As I was recovering from the fact they were standing in front of me, my Dad walks around the corner. Urbana, IL is not Burlington, VT, Dad!
This is not a good quality image because it is very zoomed in, but Christine and Alex spotted me walking and started running to catch me. I'm the very hard to distinguish figure in the trees in the upper left. They are the two girls running with blue shirts on the right. Their timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Here is a picture of me saying "what on earth are you doing here???" and just generally being surprised.
After the initial surprise wore off I parted ways with my family and continued with my day. We met up again for dinner at mine and Dad's favorite spot, the Courier cafe. Dad likes the salad bar, I like the chicken salad sandwiches, and we both like the brownie sundaes. Christine and Alex seemed to really enjoy their meals and desserts as well! After dinner I holed up in my bedroom again, practicing my presentation quietly to myself. When I felt adequately prepared, I attempted to sleep. That was wishful thinking! I managed to doze off for about three hours, but for the most part my stomach was too full of butterflies for me to really relax.
Alex, Christine, and me outside of Courier Cafe.
Dad and me at Courier Cafe.
Wednesday morning arrived and the final hurdle of my six year PhD adventure began. I put on my suit, packed up my bag, and hopped into the car with Christine, Alex, and Dad who had very kindly picked me up at the bright and early time of 7:00 am. I reviewed my talking points while waiting for the caterer, and then set up in the conference room. One of my lab mates set his computer up to record and broadcast the presentation so that lab mates in Seattle and family members back on the East Coast could watch my defense. Sadly, I later learned that the broadcast quality was too choppy for people to really watch in real time. However, the presentation did record very well so some of my family was able to watch it after the fact.
The talk went very well and I was happy with my improvement over the practice talk! I covered most of the information I wanted to cover and felt that I spoke as clearly as could be expected of me, considering I have a nearly uncontrollable tendency to speak quickly while presenting. My lab mates still in IL, the post docs from our collaborators lab, my family, and my committee attended. After I finished talking I had a couple of questions from the audience, after which everyone but the committee left the room. When it was just us, they each asked a few more questions, only one of which I was unable to answer (and I should have known the answer). I left the room while they discussed my work among themselves, and waited in the hallway with my family. 5-10 min later the committee came back out and congratulated me! What a relief that was.
Presenting...
Waiting to find out if I passed.
My lab had cake to celebrate in the office and then my adviser Nathan took the lab out to lunch. I hung around afterwards to hear the results of Matt's prelim. Matt is another student in the lab who lives out in Seattle, and we had coordinated our respective milestones so that Nathan would have less travel. The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Dad, Alex, Christine, and I went shopping at the Illinois bookstore for some spirited clothing and then Dad took us out to a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in Champaign (I may have taken a much needed nap before dinner). Thursday and Friday I ran a bunch of errands / took care of odds and ends around campus and visited with some friends in the area.
Exhausted after the presentation.
I am now home and getting back into a more normal routine! I have had a lot of small things to take care of this week so have been busy doing that. I will continue working for my adviser until the end of Summer, and have one more trip to Seattle planned in August. I do not have a job lined up for the fall yet, but I am actively looking and thinking about what I want to do next!
Click here to see the full album my dad compiled from their trip.
This is great Caroline! I'm so glad you passed with flying colors (though did we think it could go otherwise?) and that your family could be with you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diana! It was a memorable week.
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