Mayan Dream Musings

On Friday, Walt and I went to Bloomington to see and hear Jason defend his thesis for his PhD in Physics. I remember vividly when Jason was a child he had to know how everything worked. Things got taken apart on a regular basis! A special time that Jason and I had for a while was Thursday night pizza….just him and I. Jason would talk about how he wanted to know about space and time and what that was all about. This was when he was eight or nine.

Jason’s journey to get his PhD was challenging. He had years when he didn’t know if things were going to work out….money was tight….but he continued. Of course, Leah was there for him always. She is also going to have her PhD in Physics soon, and they shared over these last years the journey….good times and really hard times.

When Jason’s advisor officially told him that he had passed the defense and was approved for his PhD, his joy was incredible to see. His whole being shined with light. Now Leah will give a major talk in Germany tomorrow on Physics and Jason is with her.

It’s amazing and inspiring to me that Jason gave his thesis defense (one hour talk with power point and then one hour of intense questioning by physics professors) after completing the Chicago marathon last week, and starting a new job in Chicago just a few weeks ago. And…of course….Leah also completed the marathon and was doing the demanding work of writing the talk for Germany, getting it approved, and giving practice talks…all while helping Jason with his final preparations.

WOW!

Kudos, kudos to Jason and Leah for walking the journey with class. You are an inspiration to the rest of us.