I certainly can't claim that clever title for myself--it came as a text message from my mentor, Dr. Colleen Ramos, when she knew that everything had been turned in. The last couple of years, and especially the last few months, have been bumpy enough that I couldn't allow myself to believe it until I got the final notification from Capella University earlier this week.

So, here I am. Now what? As my wife just said, "It's a no-school, no dissertation weekend. What are you going to do with yourself?" What, indeed. Part of me expects to pop into a chalk pavement picture for an outing in the country. Part of me wants to quietly bask in this success. Part of me wants to look for teaching or research positions in universities around me. Part of me wants to double-down on my current awesome job at Adobe. Part of me is already working out the publication of my dissertation data with Dr. Justin Giboney and thinking about my next research project.

Last week, I did some snowshoeing, and the Christmas lights always beg for photographic experimentation.  For this week and weekend, I am enjoying some family time.  My daughters, Rachel and Catherine, work work in tech support jobs in the SLC area and have come down to spend the week with us.  My son is between his last two semesters at UVU and is applying to grad schools all over the world.  My wife is enjoying a break between semesters for her teaching job at UCAS.  I am okay with a small pause here.  Time will tell how things may change, but for the moment, I am just enjoying the quiet moment (though anybody who knows Rachel knows that quiet moments with her around are few and far between--let's call that a "zest for life").

I've been working through the IT PhD program at Capella University for a little over 5 years.  A year and a half ago, I passed my Comprehensive Final Exam and started working on my dissertation with Dr. Colleen Ramos.  Last spring, just before COVID hit everywhere, I collected my research data.  Since August, I have been editing and rewriting the dissertation to please my committee, the School of Business and Information Technology reviewers, and the Capella publication reviewers.  It has been a very long slog.

My dissertation was approved by the publication reviewers and my committee last week.  Everything has been sent in to the dean's office (either by me or by Dr. Ramos).  Now, I just wait for Capella University's bureaucratic machinery to cross all the Ts and dot all the i's.

It's a bit of a soft landing for what feels like a big push to get everything done.  Maybe by the end of the week (and for sure by the end of the month), I hope to officially have that PhD.  But for now, I'm just tired.  And hopeful that I really am done.