defense, part 1

on july 20, i defended for my ph.d. in chemistry. i started grad school in august of 2007, so my defense was five long years in the making. the first part was a research talk open to the public, and the second portion was a private defense...just me and my faculty committee. my mom and friends put together an amazing spread for the public portion...

 

this was my title slide. my title wasn't very good. i had tried to work the word 'mediocre' in somewhere, since my chemistry stunk, but i settled on this....

 

everyone says they couldn't tell (i think they are just being nice), but i was a nervous wreck....

 

i had waited a long time to have an occasion to order those earrings ;-)

the talk put maddie to sleep...

i was so caught up during my acknowledgements that i thanked my family but forgot to specifically thank my parents...sorry mom and dad...i love you and couldn't have made it through without you. 

the private portion with my committee immediately followed. i was in the room with them for about 1.5 hours. my back was killing me. it's been a while since i wore heels all day. this is after getting the official "you're a doctor" handshake and coming out to greet friends and family...

 

sweet hugs were waiting from jack and gracie.  jack was confused by the whole event. he thought i was getting married.  i'll have to show him pictures to prove he already attended that one. he later asked "joanna, did you get the doctor?"  i sure did buddy.

my group got me the most amazing gift. i lost it a little bit. i'm sure they weren't surprised...

they know how much i love screwtop caps and that scanning system from the 70s...

i'm also bummed that i got zero pictures with my cousin beth....she was behind the camera the whole time. thanks for documenting the day for me beth!!!