My oral exams lasted for three hours and five minutes. The majority of that time I was standing up. The experience was challenging and stressful, but also quite a bit of fun, and good for me. The upshot of it all is:
I passed.
I can now officially say that I am a doctoral candidate. I can now take a deep breath. I can now feel a bit of relaxation. I can now go back to being a normal person. Or however normal I am normally.
This picture is me a few hours after my passage. See that I am smiling? And relaxing? Also, please note the bed of flowers and halo of light surrounding my head.
