#past me had evidently not anticipated that I might use this blog for non-Layton news

[lutiaslayton]

SO ABOUT THAT PHD DEFENCE

Hello everyone! I finally have (almost) enough time and energy to give you some news (I say "almost" because I woke up less than ten minutes ago, it is already noon as I am writing this, and I feel like a zombie ready to just dive back into bed).

First off, thank you all for your messages and comments, my heart is melting even now just at the thought of it 🥺💖 I won't get into too many details unless you want me to, but just know that the PhD defence went extremely well!! I was sweating bullets the entire time and my laser pointer even ran out of batteries RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PRESENTATION, but even with that everyone told me that not a single person had noticed I was stressed out the whole time. The best part by far for me is that members of my family, and notably a friend of mine who never studied any kind of science after the end of high school but still came specially for the occasion (<3), told me that even though they couldn't understand the technical details of my research, they were still happy to tell me that they were able to get the gist of what I was saying, that even though they got lost relatively often they also weren't lost for long, and that at the very least at the end they could look at the title of my thesis and go "ok now I know what this string of random words means." Being able to demystify science is one of my ultimate dreams, so having been able to remain relatively clear towards non-scientists even as my presentation's main audience was supposed to be bonafide researchers with more experience than me really felt like an achievement.

So yeah, all that to say, PHD WENT WELL (and yes I am now a doctor but me being a doctor doesn't mean that you should be calling me a doctor. even though of course everybody does IRL and online alike just for the sake of the joke). And though I am currently exhausted and will likely take a while longer than I expected to be really back in shape, I am happy as can be.

Once again, thank you all for your support, whether from before or after the defence. It really means a lot 🥹