Yes It's Over

Exactly one week ago today I successfully defended my dissertation and became Dr. Carey Domino Yazeed.  The feeling is unexplainable (which is one of a few rare moments for me).  The night before I was a nervous wreck, finding myself going over my presentation at least a thousand times, but nothing could have prepared me for that moment. 

The morning started off rough.  At 7:30am I received a not so nice text from a former boss basically demanding that I send her a copy of the syllabus for two courses that I had taught 2-3 years ago (yes, you read that correctly, FORMER BOSS and 2-3 YEARS AGO).  I rebuked her and that text in the name of Jesus and continued to prepare for my defense.  At 8:00am I made my way to LSU, but hit a few glitches along the way.  My first problem was the police roadblock unto the campus that had traffic backed up for at least ten minutes.  Then there was the issue of parking and having to walk a country mile in 5 inch heels.  But I'm a diva so I made that hike and I did it looking effortlessly. 

At 9:00a.m. my defense began in front of my committee of four and six guest.  So in a room filled with ten people I stood for ten minutes and poured my heart out to these individuals about my research.  I was beyond relieved when the timer went off on my phone indicating that my time was up. 

Well little did I know, that was the easy part!  For approximately 40 minutes my committee hit me with question after question.  I was challenged, pushed and my limits tested.  I went from relived to piss in about zero to five seconds.  This wasn't how I had imagined this to go.  But I knew my research...well and I defended it to the end. 

After it was all over me along with the guest in attendance were asked to step outside of the room while the committee consulted with each other.  I spent what felt like an eternity standing in the hallway with a group that consisted of friends, some of my research participants and an ex (yes, one of my ex's showed up with roses but I'll leave that story for my next drama novel). 

When I was called back into the room my committee greeted me as Dr. Yazeed.  I though I would scream, but the picture tells the real story of how I dropped my head in my hands and cried tears of joy.  It was finally over! 

A week later I am still getting adjusted to people referring to me as Dr. Yazeed, but ummmm, I'll be okay!  lol  Trust me, I'll be oooooookay!