So, I defended my thesis on Tuesday, and it was completely, totally, beyond-my-wildest-dreams amazing. I presented before an audience of eighteen, including six Ph.D.s (not counting the examiner and my supervisor), three doctoral students, and seven other master students, and everybody was very positive about my work. The seminar went on for two hours, and once it got started I wasn’t nervous at all. I was asked some pretty complicated questions, but I answered everything well and felt like an absolute rock star when it was over.

I had a meeting with the examiner about an hour later to discuss my grade, and she was so positive that I was almost embarrassed. First off, she told me how good my paper was and that it was a “self-evident pass with honors”. She said that the questions I had been asked were at such a high level because there was nothing in the technical details that needed to be discussed — all of my theory, method, etc., was strongly presented and needed no clarification. Further, she said that I showed a strong ability to make subtle connections that not everybody would see and that I had written an elegant and nuanced paper bringing together three fields of history (consumption, religion, and professionalization) in a way that was highly relevant and interesting.

She told me that she hoped that I would apply for a Ph.D. spot at the university in the fall and that she also hoped that I’d get one. She assured me that because my thesis was so strong, my application would be very competitive, and that my merely average grades in the courses mattered very little. She literally did not have one negative thing to say in the entire meeting and I was absolutely on cloud nine when I left her office. She’s a well-respected historian within both the department and academic circles in general, so her high opinion is HUGE.

Now that that’s done, I’m kind of in limbo until September, when the openings for Ph.D. spots are announced. Applications are due October 15, with admission announcements in December. That feels like an awfully long time to wait, but it is what it is. At least I can finally read some fiction without feeling guilty.

Here’s a picture of me at my defense, followed by the official workshop photo. I’m already a bit nostalgic looking at them — I can’t believe how these two years flew by.