I am now the current owner of the General Exam Hat.
Excuse me while I go pass out.
May 29 2012
General exam: Passed
Excuse me while I go pass out.
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About the Author
Excuse me while I go pass out.
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Cafeeine
May 29, 2012 at 5:46 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I have no idea what this is about, but if congratulations are in order, you can have them.
And nice hat!
Kate Donovan
May 29, 2012 at 5:47 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
I think this merits a submission to this:
http://atheistsinhats.tumblr.com/
Greta Christina
May 29, 2012 at 5:48 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yaaaaaaaay!
Amanda
May 29, 2012 at 5:54 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Amazing! Congratulations on being at the all-but-dissertation stage. I look forward to the day when I reach that point :)
I hope you are passing out from celebrating too much! Take a well deserved break and go in late tomorrow.
SC (Salty Current), OM
May 29, 2012 at 5:54 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Wonderful news.
A far more stressful event than the dissertation defense, in my opinion.
Congratulations!
Pteryxx
May 29, 2012 at 6:09 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Massive conga rats!
youtube clip
Sean Boyd
May 29, 2012 at 6:22 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Your masthead needs an update, then. Nicely done.
Nobby
May 29, 2012 at 6:28 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Very nice! As i just passed mine in the fall, i definitely know how you feel. Well done! Take a well deserved rest.
And for those that don’t know, a general exam is typically (different programs and schools differ) a multi-hour (we’re talking 4-6) oral exam between the candidate (Jen) and the several professors that make up her committee. Just them in a room, answering questions for hours. This is also usually prefaced by writing an independent proposal which is quite an ordeal in itself. So, yeah, quite the ordeal. But it’s over!
cycleninja
May 29, 2012 at 6:29 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You need a corn cob pipe, too :)
Congrats.
Eric Gill
May 29, 2012 at 6:38 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Oh, nonono. No corncob. Only two people have made five-star (General of the Armies), and McArthur wasn’t one of them.
Good black lineman’s boots, yeah.
physioprof
May 29, 2012 at 6:39 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
w00t!
Eric Gill
May 29, 2012 at 6:41 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Okay, I’m smoking crack. McArthur is in that club. Mea Culpa.
Paul
May 29, 2012 at 6:42 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
When did you join The Village People?
Jade Falcon
May 29, 2012 at 6:59 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well done!
Jade Falcon
May 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
And do you have a Grad Student Beer Fund where those so inclined might drop a few bucks for celebratory imbibement?
SherryH
May 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Woo hoooo! Awesome news! I’m so happy for you.
carlie
May 29, 2012 at 7:03 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats! Now you get to focus on just whatever topics you want to focus on from now on. (er, that is, except for whatever TAing and stuff you have to do) Freeeedoooooomm!!!
Crip Dyke, MQ, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden
May 29, 2012 at 7:03 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Today. That’s what we’re celebrating (take my congrats…please!).
She passed the test to be the Village People’s general. Look for her on tour soon…
fullyladenswallow
May 29, 2012 at 8:24 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Great news! Congrats to you!
denature
May 29, 2012 at 9:42 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations. The next years are the best ones.
loreengrove
May 29, 2012 at 9:45 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done Jen! Time for a long sleep and lots of celebratory chocolate
Ali
May 29, 2012 at 9:55 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yes, you should celebrate now! Because from tomorrow morning onwards, we expect you to be dutifully planning and rehearsing your strategy for the snake fight portion of the thesis defense. I hear preparation for this often takes longer the writing the actual thesis itself.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq-the-snake-fight-portion-of-your-thesis-defense
gworroll
May 29, 2012 at 11:12 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m thinking a riding crop, actually. Not entirely out of perversion.
krispreusker
May 29, 2012 at 11:23 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
Also, that hat really suits you.
gworroll
May 29, 2012 at 11:31 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Following the better thesis = smaller snake line, wouldn’t a perfect thesis mean a snake so small as to be nonexistent, at least in any but a philosophical sense?
Even a garter snake bite can get infected.
Best bet is on the thesis. Write that snake into nonexistence.
Catherine
May 30, 2012 at 12:04 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats, luckily in the UK we don’t need to do anything similar, closest is our MPhil transfer Viva, which is “just” defending our work so far to see if our research is likely to result in a Phd after further study(that is for those who don’t start on a Phd programme from the outset)
embertine
May 30, 2012 at 12:19 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
*congratulatory fist bump*
Well done you! Now take a couple of days to feel smug before you do anything else.
Michael Kingsford Gray
May 30, 2012 at 12:53 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I extend my sincere and warm felicitations upon gaining another welcome qualification!
DLC
May 30, 2012 at 1:18 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats!
next stop Pile it Higher and Deeper Land.
Oh, and, at last, proof that you too are an Alien from The Planet of the Hats
Eva
May 30, 2012 at 2:24 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
And I love the hat!
Danger
May 30, 2012 at 3:56 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Nice. Mine is on Thursday. I want to die.
(I doubt I will receive a hat)
Esther
May 30, 2012 at 3:59 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Delurking to say “go you!” We don’t do a general exam on this side of the ocean, for which I am entirely grateful. It sounds harrowing. Now go recover and then celebrate.
Diane
May 30, 2012 at 4:06 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!! The actual defense is a breeze. Now you just have to, you know, *do* the project. :)
Sharon C
May 30, 2012 at 4:44 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well done!
Nele
May 30, 2012 at 5:08 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hooray and congratulations! :)
My humble self didn’t have to do a “general exam” for my PhD either. Here in Germany, I simply started writing my thesis after I got my M.A., finished it in some three years, and then had go give talk and discussion, which is called “disputatio”. That was it (apart from paying for the printing costs, obviously)
Nele
P.S. Is the hat really for real? You get a military style general’s hat and not a mortar-board?
Graham Martin-Royle
May 30, 2012 at 5:59 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Not too sure of the significance of the hat, but well done.
Warner
May 30, 2012 at 6:27 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Actually only one living person has made that rank, Pershing, although Congress decided that Washington outranked him and promoted him to it long after his death.
The insignia is for General of the Army, not Armies, and four have held that rank Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower and Bradley. Arnold also held this rank but retired as General of the Air Force.
Pershing wore one large star. The insignia is often worn by small town sheriffs with big bellies and inadequate equipment.
Warner
May 30, 2012 at 6:30 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Pershing was alive at the time of being promoted General of the Armies (that is grammatically correct), Washington was not.
Desert Son, OM
May 30, 2012 at 6:45 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
Still learning,
Robert
Ali
May 30, 2012 at 7:01 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
No one’s perfect. I’d come up with a little something just in case.
Morgan
May 30, 2012 at 9:08 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats, Jen!
ohioobserver
May 30, 2012 at 9:30 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations of the highest order!
Hey you! Almost a scientist!
Quinapalus
May 30, 2012 at 10:14 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
/me salutes General Exam!
John
May 30, 2012 at 10:20 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s the greatest feeling being past such a hurdle. I hope you get some rest and relaxation as a reward for this.
Congratulations!
JM
May 30, 2012 at 10:33 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations. I know how trying those can be from both my ex-husbands having gone through it.
nooneinparticular
May 30, 2012 at 11:02 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Only ever lurked here. De-lurking to say W00T! Congrats.
John C. Welch
May 30, 2012 at 11:45 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Somewhat Incorrect. There have been a number of Five-star holders beyond those you cite:
Navy:
William Leahy
Ernest King
Chester Nimits
William Halsey
Pershing’s rank is a bit of a grey area, as it was never really solidified in terms of star count, and the title itself was largely ceremonial as a reward for his service in WWI. Pershing himself only wore four stars, but gold, not silver, something unique as far as I can tell.
Had the invasion of japan proceeded as planned, MacArthur would have been a Six-Star general. There was a movement in the 50s to do this anyway, but it would have caused more problems than it was worth, and so MacArthur declined the promotion.
Washington’s posthumous promotion was more of a “so no one will ever outrank him” thing.
Technically, Adm. Dewey was a Six Star admiral, being the only person ever promoted to that rank within the Navy.
The entire “superrank” area is kind of neat reading overall.
Oh, and of course, Congrats Jen!
You should really go with the Napolean hat and sash. much cooler overall.
johnbrown
May 30, 2012 at 11:48 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations! Now you only have three to five years of drudgery before you get to tack those ridiculous initials, Ph.D. behind your name. As another long ago sufferer, I salute you.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
May 30, 2012 at 11:53 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
Rebecca W
May 30, 2012 at 2:06 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Dashing hat, old bean!
Congratulations are in order!
spdoyle17
May 30, 2012 at 2:10 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats! Hopefully your slumbers aren’t interrupted by the friendly resident feline.
Lofty
May 30, 2012 at 4:40 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congra Hat Ululations maaate! Whoo hoo!
Wayne
May 30, 2012 at 5:15 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yeah! Good job.
Icaarus
May 30, 2012 at 5:21 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Whoa now. She’s been a scientist since she was doing paper worthy research on genetic bottlenecks.
(yes I had to google the subject)
J.M. Pierce
May 30, 2012 at 10:45 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Kudos to you JM….now get
out there and accidentally prove the theory of intelligent design…
Utakata
May 31, 2012 at 8:21 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Again…my ignorance in academic traditions are likely showing again, but I presume the hat is not cosplay? o.O
Peter
May 31, 2012 at 12:38 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s no surprise, but congratulations anyway.
Daniel Fincke
June 1, 2012 at 6:05 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
BJ
June 1, 2012 at 12:08 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Niiize hat! (And mazel tov!)
http://girlgenius.wikia.com/wiki/Magnificent_Hat?image=Magnificent-hat-png
Georgia Sam
June 1, 2012 at 12:42 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations! And if the genome sciences thing doesn’t work out (although that seems unlikely now), you can find work as a hat model.
alexandercherry
June 1, 2012 at 2:52 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Good for you!
And adorable picture!
Gord
June 1, 2012 at 3:02 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well, I scanned throught the comments, and it seems that nobody has said it, so I will:
I always did love a woman in uniform!
Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven
June 1, 2012 at 5:25 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s a peaked cap, a type associated with military officers’ uniforms (and, to a lesser extent, police and merchant marine officers).
This particular model has a star on it. Stars denote officers of the General rank.
She passed her general exam.
Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven
June 1, 2012 at 5:28 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m sure she converted to scientism well before that.
*hides*
FrauKartoffel
June 2, 2012 at 3:04 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations, and you look smashing in that hat!
SuperHappyJen
June 2, 2012 at 5:21 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats! You totally rock that hat!
Prof. Bleen
June 4, 2012 at 7:41 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congratulations!
Jacob V
June 5, 2012 at 2:56 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats! And I have to say that my first impression of the pic was that you look like a very well qualified hall monitor who might possibly let you sneak out early.