Last Ph.D.

Posted Sat Oct 18, 2008 in

U.S. 380Yesterday I accomplished another milestone1 — and saw a student complete a significant milestone. She successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation. She is the second, and last, of my Ph.D. students. It was a watershed event for both of us.

She was prepared and did an excellent job presenting her work. She handled questions well and took note of the final changes the other readers found in her dissertation.

I am so proud to be part of that process. She earned her degree and she knows how to conduct independent research. She is well-trained and will now go on to do good work. I’m pleased to have been a part of that.

That makes about 30 graduate students I guided through the process. My productivity is largely measured by this group of individuals. Most of them are now lost to me, because I don’t know what they’re doing or where they are. I run into one of them now and again, and sometimes hear from one of them. They are a bit like quail when you stumble into the center of a covey — the fly all sorts of different directions and you never know where they light.

But, I’m confident they will do well, whatever pursuit they choose.

N.B. The image is just for me.

1 Milestone: noun: a stone set up beside a road to mark the distance in miles to a particular place. Figurative: an action or event marking a significant change or stage in development.

  1. I liked the watershed reference!

    — Ajay    19 October 2008, 10:43    #

  2. Thank you!!

    I agree with AJ on the watershed reference….geeky yet smart…

    — girlie-gurl    20 October 2008, 20:11    #

  3. No need to thank me, you earned it.

    The watershed reference was intentional. I do that sometimes. :) Then again, sometimes I’m just lucky. If you string enough words together, eventually you find a few that work. I have lots and lots of words strung together here!

    — ruminator    21 October 2008, 02:34    #