This little part...

It's been a busy past 60 hours for a very eventful three days.

So first... without any further ado, it's official: I'm a Doctor (ehhhh... that title still hasn't set in!). The whole experience of defending remains surreal. It's NOT something I recommend for those with a faint heart. Seriously, I don't remember much details, you just go into a mode in which you hear yourself talking, it sounds kinda smart, but still you can't believe you're saying it. But after nearly 3 hours of questioning and 10 minutes of pacing outside the meeting room while they decide my fate, my boss opened the door with a smile and a congratulations. I think it's the first time I hugged her. Twice, even in one night. In fact, I hugged all of my examiners... twice.

People have asked about the feeling and honestly I can only relate it to "this little part of my life" scene in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". There's not many good and wonderful moments in my life, but when a rare moment comes, this is what it feels like. I think I even clapped while walking alone to my car after the day was finished. Since then, I can't keep this smile off of my face.

My boss gave me a great party on Friday night. I spent Saturday de-stressing and enjoying time with some good friends. Today there's another party in my honour. Not just for the doctorate, but also because it's my birthday. Yesiree, eventful weekend it is.

Being Sunday itself, time for another "something sciencey Sunday" blogpic! Today, Congrats to the Cloning Queen.

Cloning Queen is a parody that I wrote to ABBA's "Dancing Queen". As one of my skills is cloning, the lab adopted this nickname for me ever since, so it was a fitting poster to greet me after I was awarded my Doctorate. Of note, yes, all those binders are full of thesis revisions. Joy joy joy! But I remember thinking in the defense when they asked me to include some discussion about something, "I'd even clean your house if you want!"