Reflections

What I'm doing: I just got home from celebrating Dan's successful defense. They're are still out celebrating, but I wanted to come home and get some rest so that I can trudge forward with my own dissertation tomorrow.

It was wonderful to see Dan's defense today. He is a very gifted scientist, and it was wonderful to see him "come into his own" today. Of course, he was terribly nervous, but I was not worried at all for him. I've never seen so many people pleased at a defense, nor have I ever heard such a round of applause afterwards.
It is a strange thing to see the people I know and care about defend and move on with their lives. In many ways, this makes me more aware of the passing time and the inevitability of "growing up" than hearing about all my friends from younger days who are getting married and having children. Maybe that's because it's something that I can relate to. In any case, in two weeks it will be me standing in front of an audience of my peers (although I suspect it will be a slightly smaller and less enthusiastic audience!). I am terrified, of course, but I anxiously look forward to the time when it will be behind me. Ultimately, my goal is to start my job, which requires me to finish my revisions, so until very recently, I haven't seen my defense as the end. But it is - perhaps not the ultimate end, but it is an end nevertheless. I want to end things on a good note. Not just to pass, but to do well. I don't have enough vanity that I need to pass with flying colors, but neither do I want to pass by convention alone.
Two weeks. It's an eternity, and yet it is less than one percent of my time here. These two weeks will either fly by, or drag along. Or perhaps, which is more likely, it will be both. Well, check back in two weeks, and I will tell you.