Busy week!

Today gets to be my one day this week of relaxing before life comes at me full force. I get my prelim exam written questions tomorrow (more on that in a minute), which I will be working on until next Tuesday, and I’m traveling down to my hometown (Richmond, VA) for a friend’s wedding this weekend. Would have helped if my friend hadn’t just told me 4 days ago his wedding was this coming Saturday….

Anyways, so yeah, my prelim exam. I have a committee of three professors, assigned by the curriculum committee of my department. These three professors each ask me some in-depth question, and I have one week, and 8 single spaced pages to answer all three questions. I’m not allowed to get anyone to help me with them, so I’ll be holed up in my apartment with the kitties for the next week other than heading down for my friend’s wedding and heading back up to Philly. Then my committee gets a week to look at my answers, and I have an oral exam, defending my answers and answering any other question about my coursework or my research, on July 1. If I pass, I’m officially a Ph.D. student. If I get a conditional, I get one more try, or else I’m a terminal master’s degree student and I’ll have to go to another school to get my Ph.D. Here’s hoping I pass the first time!