The Doctor is in

The day that I thought would never come came, and I passed my defense! I will hereby only answer to Dr. Pragel! Ok, that last statement isn't true, since I am almost, but not quite, that pretentious, but it still feels good. I have gone through a lot, including the long hours of my first year, the dreaded qualifying exams, finding out in the middle that a big chunk of my thesis had already been solved, and losing my office, picture and funding. But I came out the other side ok.

Now, there is still the issue of finding a job, since it would not be fun to have a PhD and be unemployed. As I mentioned before, I had a phone interview with Georgia College and State University, and that turned into an actual interview. I have also interviewed at University of Arkansas, Fort Smith. Both trips went well, and I really enjoyed meeting both departments. Now I get to play the waiting game (the waiting game sucks, lets play Hungry Hungry Hippos!).

As much as I don't like waiting, I do like the fact that I now have options. For a while, I had gotten no responses, and now, to have these two interviews, plus an additional one later this week at Orange County Community College (New York, not California), makes me much more confident about my future. That is, my future as Dr. Daniel Pragel.