Since it’s been announced over on SDN, just wanted to echo my sentiments in congratulating Q of Quimica on passing the defense of her dissertation (organic chemistry). Holy smokes - I’m shaking just thinking about going through a year of the basics - can’t even begin to imagine writing a dissertation on a spacialized topic!
Anyway, just thought I’d spread the word of good news!
Thanks, megboo. I was going to post it here, too, but since megboo beat me to it, I am happy to announce that I passed my defense today, and I am now officially a PhD. (Technically, though, I am not supposed to use the designation until the university officially confers the degree upon me next month. 
)
Yeah, I thought about that as soon as I posted - I didn’t mean to steal your thunder!
Did it go as expected?
Aww, it’s no problem. Saves me the trouble. 
Yes, it went pretty well I think. My parents and sister came, along with several friends and my labmates. I gave a 45-minute seminar on my work, and then the committee examined me. Surprisingly, the committee did not eject the audience during the oral exam; evidently they are not allowed to do this in Florida due to Sunshine Laws. (That’s what the chairman said, at any rate.) Most of my committee members were pretty easy on me. They asked me some questions about the work I did, and also some general philosophical questions about what the point of it all was. I thought that all in all it went well, and happily the committee agreed. Now I just have to correct my dissertation and turn in all of the paperwork to the grad school, and I am DONE. Woo hoo!!!
Congrats!!!
way to go Q!!! congratulations!!!
Congrats!!!
CONGRATS!!
Congratulations Dr. Q!
Thanks again, you guys. I have some more good news: today, the grad school accepted my dissertation. No corrections needed. Now the only thing I have left is to turn in some paperwork and then actually get hooded.
Excellent Q!!! You have slayed an awesome beast. . .one that damn near made me incontinent a few times just taking the basics.
Dr. Q has a nice ring to it.
Yeah, I think so too. People have been calling me “Doctor” for the past two weeks, but it still takes me a minute to figure out that they are talking to ME.
One funny thing that I didn’t mention before is that I didn’t wait for my advisor’s corrections before I submitted. I was so sure that the grad school was going to make me re-submit that I thought I’d better submit early and find out what formatting things they were going to make me change so that I’d have time to appease the grad school bureaucrats. So then they ended up accepting it as is, and I couldn’t very well tell them, oh, wait, my advisor is still reading it over! Especially because he had already signed the form saying that he accepted it! So I very sheepishly called him and told him that I had good news and good news: the grad school had already accepted my thesis, and he could stop reading the copy he had. Luckily he just found one typo, and I had already found it and fixed it on my own before I submitted.
Q, my husband successfully defended his dissertation several weeks ago (history or education, depending on your point of view… a long story) and he’s had two funny experiences since:
First, someone called our house last Saturday and asked to speak to “Dr. Renard.” He paused, thought for a moment, and then said, “Which one?” It gave him a huge thrill to realize that this was a legitimate question.
Second, he was at a doctor’s office where he’s spent some time recently and where they know him. Waiting to be called back, he heard, “Dr. Renard, please report to the treatment room,” and for a second he said he wondered what on earth I was doing there… then realized they were looking for HIM.
I pointed out to him (grumpily, I’m afraid) that being paged overhead as “Dr. Renard” will be a cool thrill for him forever, whereas for me it just means that there’s more work to do somewhere. 
He acknowledged the truth of this statement but was grinning nonetheless.
Mary
Heh heh, my dad (who is a DO) and I have been having some surreal conversations like that. I called him, and he said, “How are you, Doctor Q?” And I replied, “I’m fine, Dr. Q, and how are YOU?” God help anyone who catches the two of us when we’re together in one room…
Today when I was leaving the lab, I was in the elevator with two of the custodians, and even THEY were calling me Dr. and telling me how proud they are of me. I thought that was so nice.