I pulled an all-nighter last Thursday night to try to get my thesis finished by my 29th birthday (Friday). I haven’t done that since high school. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best birthday, but hey, I eventually got what I wanted – A FINISHED PRODUCT! It may have only been only 25% the thickness of Carl’s, but my heart went into every single one of those 196 pages.
The sick thing is that through the whole month of writing I didn’t miss a day of running. Even on the Friday after my all-nighter, I went out for a run in the rain around 11AM. I saw John B. on the path on my way out. We said “hello” to each other. On the way back I saw him again. He said “I thought you were gonna catch me.” My reply, “Not today.”
So maybe my fitness has suffered somewhat. But now it’s done — or at least handed off to my committee. But in reality I know that the work never stops. Immediately after handing in my thesis I was back at my lab bench, pipette in hand. Perhaps that’s the great thing about science — there is always more to do. Depressing? Maybe. Exciting? Definitely. Perhaps I am insane for being so upbeat right after obsessing for weeks over that stupid document that no one will ever read. But I guess I can say that my graduate experience has been a COMPLETE success, because I’ve acquired the wisdom that I really know nothing at all.
Well, also there’s the fact that most of us worship you as a goddess. So there’s that.
Congratulations, AT. There’s a whole community of people who are proud of you.