For Lil Wo.

I finally did it! On November 20th, 2008 I successfully defended my thesis, and earned my Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University after 5.5 years of graduate school - our departmental average time to finish.

Emily was always passionate about supporting Cancer Research as was evident in her being so active in Relay for Life (sponsored by the American Cancer Society). Even during the last night we spent together I was dumbfounded as she gave away all the money in her wallet - $20 (a lot of money to a college student!) - to a booth set up in the streets of Blacksburg selling brownies and cookies for Cancer Research.

Graduate school is a long haul, and takes its toll both physically, but especially mentally as there is no set graduation date or timeline- it is all up to you to get enough work done to be considered ready to defend by your advisor and committee. After Emily passed away during my third year - right in the middle of my graduate school career - I often wondered how I would be able to get through the rest of school without her.

There were certainly times where it felt impossible. Not only were my experiments not working, but how was I expected to be productive when my whole life felt broken after losing my little sister, who was my best friend. There are a lot of people to thank - in fact my acknowledgements section for my thesis was over 4 pages long (my husband, family, friends, brothers, etc). But one of my biggest drives was to do it for her. Accomplish it for Em, knowing how proud and happy she would be. And, I truly feel, with every fiber of my being, that she helped me along, and was there Nov 2oth. I know because my oral presentation was the best version out of the countless times I practiced it at home. I felt calm. My committee absolutely loved it, and my advisor said it was the best defense he'd seen in years. It was more than I ever expected, and I think I got some help. At the end of my presentation, I had a dedication slide for her. Although I've spoken at many many events for Emily's honor, and can almost always keep my composure, something overcame me this time. I thought of those days when I felt like giving up in lab, but pictured a day where I would be able to stand in front of everyone and say "I did this for my little sister", which kept me going. And now, I was finally there, and it all sort of hit me. I managed to get through the teary dedication, and it felt just so amazing to accomplish such a feat in her honor. I ordered a new license plate to celebrate the occasion (and, of course, it came just in time for my defense!)

Some photos of the defense celebrations with my department:


Incredibly, I've been offered a position at GlaxoSmithKline to research potential drugs for pancreatic cancer - the same cancer that our Uncle Tommy fought and passed away from in 2005, and the same cancer Emily used as a platform when she was the team leader for Relay for Life at Virginia Tech. Of course, I will use both her and our uncle as further inspiration to accomplish as much as I can in this position.

Thank you all for your constant support of me and my family. I am a big believer that it is the little things one does that can make a big difference in helping others.

We have a lot to celebrate this Christmas, as Joe just found out this week that he was accepted into UNC Business School! We are so happy for him :)