I just thought, maybe we could find new ways to fall apart
Today, I defended my master's thesis.
I prepared for this by rereading my thesis and the notes I've made on it about particular decisions or changes. I then copied by hand a file of poetry lines and quotes I've been collecting for the past couple of weeks into the notebook Laura gave me for Christmas. I reread those quotes walking around campus trying to be calm and not shaking and stuff before the defense.
I was interrogated (politely) for roughly an hour about things ranging from the predominance of male scholars I cite even though I'm writing very female-centric poetry to the tone in particular poems to whether the third section should even be included. It went well, I thought, and then my committee had me wait outside while they deliberated on my results. It took them about six minutes before they called me back in. Kay greeted me with, "Well, Mary, we'd all like to congratulate you on not just passing, but passing with distinction." (There's a possibility I made a very wibbly sound at this point. It was definitely not a squeak. Malfoys Bamburgs do not squeak.) "We feel like your work has really earned that recognition."
Dr Loomis added, "So this means they add a huge gold seal onto your diploma and announce it with your name at the awards banquet."
And then there were hugs all around, and Carolyn and Dr. Loomis left and Kay and I stayed to sign paperwork, and she talked to me a bit about the decision.
She asked if I had expected it, and I told her, quite honestly, no. I wanted it, because if you tell me that there's a pass option and a pass-with-gold-star option, obviously I'm going to want the gold star. But I really thought that I was still in the process of revising and polishing so many parts of this that pass-with-distinction was an option but not, by any means, a likelihood. She told me that two of my three committee members had wanted to award me distinction on my comps, as well, but it has to be a unanimous decision. She said that it's usually frowned upon for the thesis director to raise the possibility of distinction, because directors are more invested in the result - apparently Carolyn, my current workshop professor, was the one who brought it up. That's pretty awesome and betokens good things for my grade this semester.
Kay said she had explained what qualifies as distinction for an MFA thesis to Dr Loomis, who'd never done one before, so I asked her to tell me, too. She said I got it because of the depth of my scholarly knowledge of both critical studies and the source material, the rigor I demonstrated in my formal poems and the variety of forms I used, the creativity and variety of my interpretations, and my "overall ability". I just sort of got redder and redder. It was amazing to hear.
Kay also told me that she doesn't remember the last time distinction was awarded (presumably within the CWW, but she didn't specify). And she said that I had chosen an incredibly hard, demanding, and strict committee, so I should be extra proud of this result.
I am. I am full of relief and giddiness and, yes, proud of what I made.
I prepared for this by rereading my thesis and the notes I've made on it about particular decisions or changes. I then copied by hand a file of poetry lines and quotes I've been collecting for the past couple of weeks into the notebook Laura gave me for Christmas. I reread those quotes walking around campus trying to be calm and not shaking and stuff before the defense.
I was interrogated (politely) for roughly an hour about things ranging from the predominance of male scholars I cite even though I'm writing very female-centric poetry to the tone in particular poems to whether the third section should even be included. It went well, I thought, and then my committee had me wait outside while they deliberated on my results. It took them about six minutes before they called me back in. Kay greeted me with, "Well, Mary, we'd all like to congratulate you on not just passing, but passing with distinction." (There's a possibility I made a very wibbly sound at this point. It was definitely not a squeak. Malfoys Bamburgs do not squeak.) "We feel like your work has really earned that recognition."
Dr Loomis added, "So this means they add a huge gold seal onto your diploma and announce it with your name at the awards banquet."
And then there were hugs all around, and Carolyn and Dr. Loomis left and Kay and I stayed to sign paperwork, and she talked to me a bit about the decision.
She asked if I had expected it, and I told her, quite honestly, no. I wanted it, because if you tell me that there's a pass option and a pass-with-gold-star option, obviously I'm going to want the gold star. But I really thought that I was still in the process of revising and polishing so many parts of this that pass-with-distinction was an option but not, by any means, a likelihood. She told me that two of my three committee members had wanted to award me distinction on my comps, as well, but it has to be a unanimous decision. She said that it's usually frowned upon for the thesis director to raise the possibility of distinction, because directors are more invested in the result - apparently Carolyn, my current workshop professor, was the one who brought it up. That's pretty awesome and betokens good things for my grade this semester.
Kay said she had explained what qualifies as distinction for an MFA thesis to Dr Loomis, who'd never done one before, so I asked her to tell me, too. She said I got it because of the depth of my scholarly knowledge of both critical studies and the source material, the rigor I demonstrated in my formal poems and the variety of forms I used, the creativity and variety of my interpretations, and my "overall ability". I just sort of got redder and redder. It was amazing to hear.
Kay also told me that she doesn't remember the last time distinction was awarded (presumably within the CWW, but she didn't specify). And she said that I had chosen an incredibly hard, demanding, and strict committee, so I should be extra proud of this result.
I am. I am full of relief and giddiness and, yes, proud of what I made.