Thesis Defense

The thesis was successfully defended, but it took quite a beating. There was very little offense by my side. It started at 1 PM and lasted 2.5 hours. I gave a presentation for 30 or so minutes and then answered questions for the next two hours. There were only a couple of questions I had a definite answer. They were all familiar with the research, so there were no softball questions. All of the rest of the questions were geared to take me down a road to see how much I know. The problem is if I start out incorrectly then they just let me keep going down the wrong path until it becomes obvious my mistakes.

It went by rather quickly and in the end they told me I passed. I didn't really fear not passing, but its still intimidating. I've never heard of anyone not passing and I've never heard of anyone feeling they did really well in their defense. I now have a week to fix all of their final corrections and get it submitted to the library.

A three year saga is about to come to an end and I'm very much ready for it.

Thesis Defense

I'm reaching the end of my thesis work (finally) and its kind of a weird feeling. I'm been so ready for it to be over for so long but to reach the end you have to go through the defense. Something I'm not looking forward to. From what I know, its basically a 3 hour questioning of all your knowledge on your topic. Its sort of an academic hazing. The professors like to find out how much you know and exploit what you don't know. The other side of it is, I've only heard of one guy not passing his defense in our department. So, my motivation to really prepare is lacking. I've scheduled my work load to be light this week so I can have some time to prepare. 

I've had this hanging over my head for a year and the end is finally in sight. My professors and I have gone through 9 revisions, most of them major. Towards the end it started to get frustrating because it got to be "picky" things for a paper that no one will probably ever read again. Oh well, after this week it won't be a big deal.

Last Day

Today is my last day at MSU. It doesn't feel like a last day because I'm not done with my thesis. So I'll still have to make some return trips for that little project. Nevertheless, today is the last day where I will make the trip to 368 Dorman for an 8-5 shift. I've been coming here since January 2008. Its been a nice transition from full time student to full time employee. Whether or not to pursue grad school was a big debate in my head, and as I approach the end, I'm still glad I have done it for several reasons:

• I've learned a lot
• I've gotten to be with Rebecca
• I have not lost money on the deal
• Lots of great time with friends
• I've gotten to mature before I dive off into a career path

There are certainly things I would go back and change, but I could probably say that about any path I had chosen. I definitely don't think grad school is for everyone, and its not an intelligence thing. Its just an arduous journey with a lot of hoops to jump through. Some career paths its worth it, others not. Just don't do it because you assume it will make your more money in the long run.

Anyways, I didn't intend on getting all sappy on this post. Today got me thinking about other last days I have had at jobs. This is the longest tenure I've ever had at a job, however its probably the most anti-climatic of any of them.

• Chick-fil-a: worked there nearly two years in high school. I quit to make more money at Longscape doing something I enjoyed much more. I don't really remember my last day, however I still crave Chick-fil-a at least once a week.
• Willow Point Country Club: My first internship for my major. It was an eye-opening summer in which I realized I didn't want to work at a golf course. I still learned a tremendous amount about turf on a beautiful course. My internship came to an end and as is customary amongst turf internships, I got thrown into the lake at the end of my last day. 
• Personal Lawn Care: My second internship took place in Memphis, TN with a company I made a connection with during summer missions the year before. I learned a good deal about chemicals, fertilizers, and running a small business. I also had a great time with my gracious hosts the Poschels. Nothing memorable about my last day except a desire to get back to Starkville for a soon to be romantic pursuit.
• Naturescape: This was my third and final internship. This one lasted 7 months in Birmingham. The first half was great, the second half got mundane when I got stuck as the chemical guy after the other guy quit. My last day was much anticipated because previously mentioned romantic pursuit was returning from a month long trip to Peru and we could finally return to Starkville and be in the same city again.
• MSU Graduate Teaching Assistant: My last day has been about like any other, which I prefer. I don't like a lot of big goodbyes with people I don't hang out much to begin with. Its also unwanted because I will be returning as early as next week to get my stuff. So if you have a big goodbye and then see the person a couple days later, its makes it awkward. I prefer the fade method. So I rode my bike to work, ate leftovers in my office for lunch, and did some work on the thesis in between.

Hopefully I won't have another 'last day' for a while.

Day in the Lab

This is what I going to deem a "Mom Post." Meaning, my Mom is probably the only person who will enjoy reading this. So if you're not my Mom just scan the pictures to see if anything looks interesting. The only reason I write this post is to look back at years down the road and remember what I did in grad school.

Part of my thesis involves using radioactive fructose. By using radioactive fructose I can apply it to the plants and then use machines to detect the radioactivity and thus determine if it is in the plant or where exactly it is in the plant. Radioactive particles give off a certain energy that is detectable that allows it to be used as a tracer. Through various methods such as washing, combusting, metabolizing, 14C samples can be collected into small vials filled with liquid scintillation cocktail solution. This scintillation cocktail gives off small flashes of lights when in the presence of radioactive particles. I then put the vials in a Liquid Scintillation Counter which takes each vial and counts the flashes. This gives us a numerical value of radioactivity. If we know how much we put on the plant, then we can say what percentage is in each location. There's a lot more to it, but this is the simple version. Thanks for reading Mom.

I was running some samples in the lab this morning and decided to take a picture of it. This is the Liquid Scintillation Counter.