...and the warrior passes the trial of fire...

In the last few days, I have...
1) Defended my thesis (e-mail me for a copy) before my thesis committee
2) Made revisions to my thesis and turned in the final copy
3) Finished the last revisions to my submission to Remote Sensing of Environment for the SpecNet special issue.

The thesis defense didn't feel so much like an actual presentation, given the large number of interruptions I got from my committee, but rather an exam to see if I understood what I did. To those of you who will have to do a thesis defense presentation/Q&A session, I have a few words of wisdom:

1) Coffee is your friend, but only in moderation. Same goes for Mountain Dew or Red Bull.
2) Eat a bit before going into the defense. Something like a piece of fruit or something else that's easy to digest is really good.
3) Reheasrse the day before and then relax the day of unless you're someone who can really improvise and/or know the material better than the back of your hand.
4) Committee members can ask some of the most random of questions. Prepare accordingly.
5) Tae Kwon Do forms, especially the Taeguk ones, can be comforting in times of stress, but don't get caught doing one right before the presentation.