Lighthouses--continued

One lighthouse just wasn't enough though. After checking out the Currituck lighthouse, we visited two others.

First up: Bodie light house (pronounced BODY)

We did not climb this lighthouse but instead spent time checking out the grounds (and posing for group pictures!).

Next up: Cape Hatteras

This is the tallest lighthouse in North America! My uncle and I climbed to the top while others in our group spent some time relaxing.

Cape Hatteras light house was renovated for nearly a million dollars, but you would not know it from the fact that pieces of the railing along the top were disintegrating. A lot of that money was actually used not just to renovate, but to move the lighthouse.

Cape Hatteras used to be closer to the shore, but the wind was causing all sorts of problems to the building, so eventually it was moved a little further inland.

I really enjoyed seeing the lighthouses. I find them fascinating!

A week at the beach

After graduation, my family and I headed out to the Outer Banks (specifically, Nags Head). We had rented a house for the week right on the beach. Shawn had to stay behind for a few days and work, but he got in Tuesday night.

Overall, the trip was a blast. We had great views--we could even see dolphins from the deck!

We spent our time visiting sites such as the Wright Brother's Memorial (NC is "first in flight" you know).

And the various lighthouses of the Outer Banks. First up was Currituck. This lighthouse is the only one along the Outer Banks left in its original brick state. It was thought that with the original brick, it was easier to see just how many bricks were used to make up the lighthouse. 

Shawn, Jeff and I made the climb to the top.

More on some of our other excursions in the days to come.

Graduation 2013

After three plus years I am the proud recipient of a PhD! (I add the "plus" to the three years because the PhD program was three years, but the master's program was two, and the bachelor's was four...). Most PhD programs take four or more years, but the program at UNC is supposed to be accomplished in three years--that's how long your funding lasts anyway. Some semesters I took five classes; I submitted and received a grant to support my dissertation research; I completed my comprehensive exams (a series of five closed book essay-like documents that were about 15 pages each, done in a four hour time block over the course of a week and a half) early in the summer; I defended my dissertation proposal in the summer before my third year and then spent the third year using the grant funds to implement a campaign in six NC schools and evaluate it; I then wrote up my dissertation--a 100 plus page document that included theory and application, and passed my dissertation defense. When I look back, it seems like A LOT happened in those three years.

Graduation was great. My parents, brother and extended family came out. So nice to have so much support! I can't even begin to thank everyone for all their support and encouragement throughout the last three years. Shawn has been wonderful, whether it was dealing with late night study sessions or listening to my research presentations, and my family and friends have really helped make this experience a great one.

UNC has multiple graduations (three in total that PhDs could participate in). I participated in two of them. The first was just for graduate degrees across the university. We had a great commencement speaker and that was when I was first "hooded." On my left is my wonderful advisor.

The second graduation was the next day for all students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. At this ceremony, I again was hooded by my advisor, but I also received my diploma!

Overall, it was a great weekend, and I really enjoyed sharing it with all my family!

Below are a few other pictures from the weekend:

Success

The defense was a success! I was a little nervous in the half hour or so before the defense, but it actually turned out just fine. My committee was great and provided excellent feedback that will help me make positive changes as I move forward. And, I passed! That means I can finish off the dissertation, submit it to the grad school, and get my PhD.

This is a pic of me from before the defense--see how excited I was?

 

When I came home, Shawn had gotten me flowers and a gift--a nice watch! We then went out for Italian food (where it was also $5 Martini Wednesday!). 

When we came home that evening though, we found a box of dark chocolate eggs that Bella had eaten splayed all over the floor. Bella ate about 14 eggs! Needless to say, we were nervous. But Shawn knew what to do. He said we needed to get them out of her system, so we called our wonderful friend who is also a vet tech and she helped us. After Bella got sick (she was a real champ as we keep feeding her hydrogen peroxide--just happy to have all the attention), she was pretty tired out for the rest of the evening. Luckily, it seems like most the chocolate was out of her system and she seems to be doing alright.

What a day!

D-Day

Today is the morning of my defense. My day will start out pretty normally, with some meetings at UNC about a project I am currently working on. Then at noon, I will meet with my committee to talk about the project I have spent the last two years or so working on.

I have prepared a brief powerpoint to highlight aspects of the project, and we will then discuss the 100 plus page document I sent them three weeks ago. The presentation is supposed to be about 10 minutes. It is actually quite hard to pare down 2 years worth of work to 10 minutes. Good thing they also had 100 pages to get the gist.

I will let you know how it all turns out, but overall, I am pretty excited. I anticipate a meeting that is informative and provides some good feedback on the work I have done--feedback that will help me improve it so that I can send it out to journals for publication. Hopefully, the next post you see from me will be written by Dr. Jessica Fitts Willoughby.