Archive for August, 2008

You cannot be always aware of something is coming. In my case, I got a shot during my Ph.D final defense. The question was thrown out by my friend, a Ph.D student, let’s call him A, as the first question after my presentation. His question was about the “critical state soil mechanics” and its discussion about the settlement caused by liquefaction.

Well, I admitted that I had no idea, totally blank in my head, about this question. I 100% forgot the meaning of critical state soil mechanics. I believed that my face turned pale in few seconds. My advisor and other committee members tried to recall me the definition of critical state soil mechanics and guided me through the point my friend A was interested.

I finally remembered the detail and interacted with my advisor to answer the question. Whoooooooo. It was close, and I was kind of lucky. Because this question cost almost 45 minutes, not much time was left for other questions. Therefore, I didn’t encounter any more serious “accidents” in the meeting. God bless me!

Although my friend made me worry about the defense at some degree, I really appreciated for his support and the effects of his shot. Thank you, A.

It was a great moment when I was told that I passed my final examination for doctoral degree. It was Friday, July 18, 2008. After almost three hours of presentation and Q & A, I achieved my final goal. Yes, I became a Doctor of Philosophy since then.

Actually I was not as nervous as I expected. I had rehearsed my presentation three times with my advisor. I was worried about my timing of presentation because I spent too much time during my rehearsals. However, it was miracle, as my advisor said later, that I spoke fluently and presented my slides smoothly like a movie. Yeah, I was kind of proud of this. This is my precious memory of a graduate student in UW.

I would like to share the glory moment with my family, especially my wife. Without their support and believing in me, I wouldn’t overcome so many difficulties and achieve my goal. I Love You All, FOREVER!