D-Day and V-Day Part I

D-Day : Friday the 13th

D is for Defense, and D-Day marked the end of my official research life as a Master student, as I finished my Master Thesis Defense on that day. (However, for some reason, I have been asked to submit a paper for JLT, which is apparently very difficult, and I also have to present at a local conference in Ehime in March) In a way, it proceeded the way I thought it would be, but the Q & A session did not go according to plan.

Superstitious people can blame it on the date being an unlucky one; I will just admit that I did not prepare adequately. Some of the questions were quite tricky, but they were not unanswerable. I knew the answers were in the papers that I had read before, but I could not recall them that day.

As for the part about guidelines and approaches, I guess it is a matter of perspectives. In the end, I passed, and I was filled with mixed emotions when my professor told me the words that should have been music to my ears - "You passed". Relief that I had made it, and disappointment that I did not do better during the Q & A.

At that moment, I truly realized what the phrase "a hollow victory" meant.

PS: Still, a win is worth 3 points, and at this point in time, that is all that matters.