After giving his presentation - he was on that morning!
Andy went down a couple hours early to pray and prepare. Philip and I worked on cleaning up the house and getting a few surprises. We arrived at the school just as Andy was dismissed from the room for deliberations - perfect timing! A few minutes later the door opened and Andy's director walked out to shake his hand and tell him congratulations - he was a new doctor!
Philip and I joined the celebration afterwards. There were toasts and pictures and lots of academic talk, of course. All of the professors were complimentary of his defense and writing. Andy was encouraged to rework his dissertation to make it more accessible to a broader audience, and to publish it as a book. Aye yi yi... His readers had no recommended changes for him and his director only had a few minor edits. He is working on them this weekend and hopes to deposit his dissertation ASAP!
Philip practicing for a future defense?
These boys are happy!
Making a few calls to spread the news
The good doctors. Our friend P started the same year as Andy and now they will graduate together. They shared a job and a tiny office. Now they are working together again, but in much different positions - they each have their own office too!
That evening we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - nothing fancy, but yummy! We reminisced about the past nine years of our marriage that have all revolved around grad school (Masters and Ph.D). We talked about how our life may change and tried to grasp the enormity of this accomplishment. One of Andy's readers told him that he may not comprehend the immensity of it right now, but that he will notice the absence of it. Andy's immediate feelings were tiredness and relief!
We are looking forward to spending some fun family time together on the weekends now.
Welcome home!
If anyone ever questions Andy's credentials, he can pull this card out of his wallet as proof. Ha ha!
I rank Andy's defense day up there with our engagement day, wedding day, and Philip's birth day as far as how important it is in our relationship. Tonight Andy and I are going out to a nice dinner and to a concert. We have had the tickets for about a year now and would have never guessed how perfectly the timing would work out.
Looks like a fantastic day! Congrats again!
ReplyDeleteCongrats again!
ReplyDeleteHey, who is that cute guy P?? Is he married? I would love his number!! ;-)
Have to add, funny that you talked about how your life may change . . . we talked about how, even though it is done and P is a Dr, that it is strange, but our lives would probably NOT change (other than him not working on it anymore and paying money to Catholic U every year!).
ReplyDeleteI have been reading regularly again for awhile now, but it isn't easy to comment on my phone. This was one of a few "big things" going on in blogger land that I wanted to come out of hiding for. I am so happy for you both! I know a PhD is a two person accomplishment firsthand. It sounds like you really helped make the day special. And that dissertation sounds like a beast. Would you believe mine was only 112 pages? They like our short so we can easily convert to a manuscript and submit to publish in a journal, but that is still proving hard. A year later it is still not down to 30 pages. Don't let him procrastinate like I did! :)
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