"Now back to your regularly scheduled programming..."

This past Wednesday, I met again with my committee. This was my fifth committee meeting, and my mission in this meeting was the holy grail of all PhD candidates: seeking permission to write the thesis dissertation.

In some ways, I was very blase about the meeting. I figured the more I stressed out about it, I was just going to give myself more pressure, so low expectations were in order to keep myself sane. Plus I had found myself responsible for two transient students in the lab, back-to-back leading up to and immediately after my meeting, eating up a lot of time trying to keep them organized and moving forward on their projects during their short time (why I am always in charge of students in the lab is a rant for another time). Lastly, I also have spent the better part of the last month writing a review article and JUST got it submitted, finally, so I frankly haven't had the time to focus on the presentation for my meeting. 

I didn't make very much for the committee this time. I just saved some awesome Bedford Springs Granola from the last batch I made, and I brought some fruit, yogurt, dip, cracker, coffee, and water for everyone. 

The presentation went well. I started from scratch this time and reworked the entire flow of the presentation. I had a lot more data this time compared to the last meeting, so there were less hang ups on experimental problems than last time.

And finally, the verdict--

My committee wants me to submit the manuscript I am working on before I set a an actual date for the defense, but otherwise...

I HAVE PERMISSION TO WRITE!

(insert Gangnam Style dance here)

I still have a long road ahead of me, no doubt, and I can't relax too much yet, but a HUGE load is off my shoulders, and I have a timeline for graduating and going back to medical school (next May). Which means I will be PhD 2013, MD 2014 (December 2014 graduation). 

Here's to moving forward! And more regular posting on the blog!