Kathryn's PhD, Check, now Nathan's onto an MBA!

Pretty much since January hit I was in sprint mode to the end, despite it still being a solid 3 months until I was to defend. I did most of the writing for my thesis in January and February, which ended up being about 300 pages double-spaced so it was long and awful, but I turned it in almost a month before my defense presentation, so the rest of the time I was able to focus on getting in more experiments and preparing the actual presentation. After an hour-long presentation to the audience and then another 2 hr. (did it really need to take that long?) defense privately with my committee, they sent me outside the room to wait a grueling 10 minutes (or maybe it was 2 minutes that felt like 10) while they privately discussed it, during which time I couldn't hear what was said, but did hear quite a bit of laughter... so not sure what they were laughing about. Afterward, my committee chair opened the door and shook my hand saying, "Congrats, Dr. Hixson!" It was an amazing day and my parents flew in for it, which was very special to have them see that. Everything went very well and afterward I could finally breathe a little, the day before I could've left the program, (not saying I didn't think about doing that often) and had nothing to show for it, and after that day, I had a PhD, and no matter what, that couldn't be taken away. It really took the pressure off as I finished out the past few months in my lab before moving. (I worked up until the day before we moved, which, by the way, I don't recommend). 

 

It wasn't until a few months later that graduation actually took place, and my parents and brother and SIL came to see. Some people think maybe they've grown out of the need for a whole ceremony and commencement by the time they finish a PhD, but I was glad I participated because it was really special to take the time to think about the accomplishment and listen to inspiring speakers encourage us to use those degrees to their fullest. I chose not to carry Elliott across the stage when I was hooded, as other parents did, because I felt like it was my own acheivement, something I chose to do for myself apart from being a mother, and if anything he made the process harder, but when I was in the procession out of the building at the end he saw me and joined in with us so I carried him out with me.  It was special to have him there to celebrate me in a role outside of what he usually knows me as- book-reader, chef, joke-teller, song-maker-upper- all the things that make me a mommy. I felt it was significant that he saw there are other things outside his world that I'm involved in. 

 

 

 

 

While we had family visiting, we also did some farewell touring including a Boston Pops concert, a Red Sox game, several delicious restaurants and a blind taste test of Boston's donut shops. We also went to the Public Garden on a swan boat and walked some of the freedom trail. 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, as I was in the midst of preparing for my defense, Nathan was in the thick of MBA program interviews. My dream had long been to go to graduate school in Boston, so as I completed that Nathan was able to focus on his dream, which since we've been married, he's spoken of getting an MBA at Duke. He found out shortly before my defense he had been accepted there. Not only is it closer to home and family for him, but the school is also great overall and outstanding for specializing in social finance, which is what he does. It took some convincing to get him to finalize his decision to do an MBA, but now he is really excited for the next couple years meeting talented people, attending classes taught by incredible professors, and getting opportunities to expand his understanding and expertise through internship experiences. I've had years of exposure to the idea of moving to the research triangle area, so I have had some time to warm up to the idea, and now I am truly excited for the change. 

I began a job search in North Carolina months ago and was able to interview the week after my defense for an exciting postdoc position at The Catalyst for Rare Disease at UNC. I've accepted the position and am excited to get started in this new field in a lab focused on accelerating drug discovery into diseases neglected by other big pharma companies due to the small number of patients with the disease.