I didn’t start wearing glasses until I was in college. One day I went to renew my driver’s license and was horrified to find out that I failed the eye exam. As a child I didn’t have any problems with my eyesight, but it slowly deteriorated after many years in front of books and computer screens. …
Over the last few months I’ve gotten to know a German expression that I’d never really paid attention to before… After submitting my dissertation in November and now finally having defended it on Monday (!), plenty of friends expressed concern that I should keep myself busy so that I don’t “fall in a hole” (in ein Loch fallen) that’s …
When I first started thinking back over 2014, all I could see in my mind’s eye was the dissertation. But when I actually really looked back — month for month — I was surprised by how much I accomplished above and beyond wrapping up my PhD. Like visiting three new places (London, Malta, and Langeoog), setting two personal records in the half marathon, …
Well, I’m done. This last half-a-year I have been completely consumed with bringing my doctoral dissertation to a close. And now it’s finished. It’s a very surreal feeling to have four years of work come to a close — reading, writing, learning, analyzing, and presenting. The defense will come in a few months, but the hardest part …