El Fin!

It is all done. All the hours and hours of work, restless nights, sleeping on campus on a blown up camping pad in the Richards Building, countless numbers of papers written, a couple publications, wondering if I was truly insane, skype conferences with a committee etc etc…it has finally ended and I am done with my Masters Degree in Public Health!!!!!!

Take THAT MPH program requirements-I Beat you!

I had a great week in Utah (minus the fact that I missed Brandon) where I got to do the oral defense for my project and fieldwork, and just spend a lot of time with family. I flew in on Tuesday and was welcomed with about 8 inches of snow. It is beautiful and I enjoyed the snow while there, but I am grateful we don’t have to drive in it, shovel it, freeze in it etc. here in Houston

Welcome to Utah!

Wednesday was a great day. It turns out that I have the most supportive family anyone could hope for. Brandon was with me via phone/text throughout the day wishing me well and keeping me in prayers that everything would go well. Dad and I made sure that we had plenty of treats to “bribe” my committee members with at the defense meeting ;) Anna drove all the way down from Logan to hear me talk about the work I’ve been doing in Houston. Special thanks to everyone who took the time to come to the defense: Dad, Mom, Grandma Bay, Aaron, Anna, and Steve and Nicole. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages wishing me well also. It was all incredibly helpful. And thanks to my committee who patiently helped me get through everything and all my final edits and revisions. They patiently put up with all my racquetball games/absences, marriage, moving to Texas, changing my entire project when unforeseen events occurred with my data from Uganda etc. They were so great! After a two hour defense meeting the verdict was announced: “Pass with revisions.” I made final changes to my report, submitted it, and now get to enjoy throwing out all the papers I have collected as part of this experience.

It. Is. Done.

Sigh of Relief.

I am so grateful for an incredible husband who has been so patient with me through all of this too. He has put up with my frustrations, emotional breakdowns, papers all over the apartment as I sorted through surveys and research, my confusions with figuring how to do what I wanted to in Excel (yes, he is a master of Microsoft Excel and deserves his own Masters degree just for figuring out how to solve all of my problems). I could go on and on with how grateful I am for all of his support in this, but as that would lead to an unreasonably long blog post, I will just summarize…He is the BEST!

The rest of the week was spent just enjoying time with family and making revisions. It was a nice break, but I was sure glad to get back to Brandon at the end of the week. It also worked out well that I left Utah just before a big snowstorm hit and closed down the airport. Phew!

Lovely parents

Had a great evening enjoying the lights at temple square. Yes, this included a stop for warm soup and rolls at the
 Lion House Restaurant mid light viewing to thaw out a bit :)

Now, on to the next exciting adventures life has in store for Brandon and I.