One Down

Well...to the handful of you still out there, guess what?? I passed my comp exams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got official word today--it's the first thing my advisor said this morning when I arrived at the lab.

Just over a week ago, I felt so stressed out at their enormity, and at the gigantic, mountainous road that lies ahead of me. And, although unrelated, I guess I've been in a slight funk this fall--as irrational as it may be--after Architect Boy told me he was engaged. I just felt...paralyzed in so many ways by fear and uncertainty about the future(and still do feel it on some levels).
BUT...I knew what I needed to do, and buckled down and burned the midnight oil on several consecutive nights, and gave it my all in one last big push to finish typing them up. What a relief it was to finally click "send", and e-mail them to my advisor and 2nd reader.

The typical protocol is that your two designated professors take 2 weeks to read them. Then the readers give them back with comments and recommendations for revisions and give the student exactly 2 weeks to revise them, and then tell them if they passed or failed.

BUT...my advisor said I had passed with flying colors right off the bat, and there were NO revisions needed! So now, I have the green light to start thinking about my dissertation project and begin writing the proposal. Can I defend it by Thanksgiving? Christmas? Might I still finish my degree in May? Will I find a job that's right for me? What next?

*Deep.Breaths*

I can't think much beyond tomorrow, since I have three deadlines: one powerpoint to upload for an upcoming conference, and two back-to-back research presentations. But there will be celebrating in my near future hopefully, for there are margaritas to be had, and family and friends to share the joy with.