Passed

I miraculously passed my thesis defense. It was truly brutal, though. I'm disappointed in myself for not performing the way I practiced. My defense took about 20 minutes from what I'm told. I just started crashing - whenever I messed up, I just imagined it snowballing in my mind to the point where I wouldn't be at all successful. The audience asked some good questions, but I had a hard time with a few of them. The committee interrogation took about 1.5 hours, really was a painful experience. When they excused me to discuss, I sat in the office swearing to my friends surrounding me that I'd failed. Alas, when my advisor opened the door inviting me back it, he immediately shook my hand. I haven't seen him smile that broadly in a *long* long time. Maybe he's just excited to get rid of me?

So a bunch of us hung out and camped at San Lorenzo canyon to celebrate. Toasted champagne and all that. We assumed the weather would be cold and super windy, but NM shocked us! The entire night was gorgeous, minus a little wind. Woke up at 7 a.m. to the sun shining on the conglomerate cliffs.

Got to pack! Heading to Alaska tomorrow!