I passed my orals!
Yesterday I passed my oral qualifiers. Three of my fields went pretty smoothly (history of the physical sciences since the mid-19th century; history of the biological sciences since 1859; and 20th-century American history), while the one I was feeling most confident about (science fiction and science writing) was somewhat of a train-wreck. Despite that, it was probably the field I put the most work into and I feel good about what I got out of it as I prepared for the exam.
I slept great the night before the exam. Last night, after I had passed, I could hardly sleep at all. I’ve heard a number of comments like “this is the most you’ll ever know”, that after qualifiers you do more forgetting than learning new things. That’s a depressing thought.
Soon I’ll start working on my prospectus. In the meantime, I get to turn my thoughts to things that really matter, like Wii and Wikipedia and teaching (and grading, ugh).
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Congratulations! Let the endumbening begin.