Pass

After weeks (literally WEEKS) of waiting, I finally received word about my comprehensive exams. I have dreamed about this blog post. Really, I have playing in my head how I will celebrate via blog post about my success. And now that I finally know, it is super exciting. So now, I can get back to work. Yes. PASS!

Back to business. Thursday was a big day. Along with getting my comps results, I also had my guidance committee meeting. While there were several inches of snow on the ground, we were still able to hold the meeting, albeit some of the committee were video conferencing (here's my plug for zoom. If you haven't used it yet, and need to video conference, it's awesome). I left that meeting with two distinct feelings. The first feeling was one of total awe. There are some crazy smart people in the HALE department. And they were all focused on me and my success. It was just, so... so so cool for lack of a better word. All of them were asking me questions, giving me advice, and making recommendations for how to proceed through my doctoral program. I scribbled notes and have things to consider for next year. The second feeling was my imposter syndrome monster, or the "I'm not smart enough blob" or just Blob for short. Blob came into the meeting near the end, and although the meeting was very good, Blob sat on my shoulders afterwards and said, "Dude, Emiko, you're smart but not THAT smart." As I mentioned, these people are smart. And having them all bat back and forth with one another on my behalf was amazing and intimidating. I sat with Blob for a while, then told Blob, "Hey, DUDE, I totally passed comps, so just give me a little break for now." Blob left, and I finished my coffee and went downstairs to look at how the snow was melting.