Today was unlike most of Robert's recent days. With one week left until he was expected to hand in the final revision of his thesis to the publisher of the journal, weekends and weekdays blended together to make these final weeks the worst of his grad school if not the worst of his entire life. Today though, was his thesis defense.
The latest revision was important, but today was make or break time with regards to his academic career if not his psyche. It was amazing and somewhat cruel that a panel of academically self-proclaimed elite professors was all that really stood between what seemed sometimes like an impossible dream and a grizzly nightmare. Hopefully his thesis committee had prepared him enough for what about to happen.
His committee was made up by three senior professors. Sal was a 60-something expert in Robert's field and was his main thesis advisor. He was a man Robert had yearned to work for all those years ago when Robert had first embarked on this journey called graduate school. At this point, Sal was becoming a real hindrance to Robert's forward progress though with little side projects seemingly constantly creeping into the main body of work.
Chrissy was in her early 50's, was blonde with glasses, and had a real sharp wit to compete with the lusty curves of her body. In particular, her expertise on getting people published was a real asset to Robert, but he didn't mind one bit getting to study some of her others assets, with her hips and round sexy ass often stretching her usual rather tight skirts in sexy ways. Denise was also in her early 50's, but was a brunette and an athlete.
Where Chrissy was sexy and curvy, Denise was much shorter in stature at 5'2" but if anything a little bit thicker. Her curves were probably there somewhere under her clothes, but she didn't really dress at all womanly as Chrissy always did. Denise was a brunette and happened to be the female master's champion for triathlons in the state. It was funny to think how this short woman with the dry sense of humor could most likely kick his ass in almost any athletic endeavor.
The actual defense of the thesis started out almost exactly how he'd visualized it. Denise had done a good job giving advice about how to conduct it smoothly. The opening words and Robert's lecture portion went well which was a good thing as he'd rehearsed these pieces maybe six times on his own. He could have almost said everything in his sleep. To summarize two and half years of hard work into a forty-five minute lecture was almost sickening.
Alas though, Robert finished the conclusion and it seemed as though both of the ladies from his committee were pleased and he got a subtle thumbs up from Sal. So far, so good for Robert then, that is until the question period of the defense. The questions came thick and fast. Each question seemed to trump the one before it in complexity and length. Robert had heard that sometimes professors made thesis defenses the time to showcase their amazing knowledge of a topic but he certainly didn't enjoy being on the wrong side of the discussion.
Carefully, Robert answered the questions using some of the tricks that Denise had shown him. He gave precise and exact answers where he knew the answer and was careful and vague on questions that he thought "might require further study in a future research project" just as he had been taught. Everyone seemed satisfied by his knowledge and he was given a passing grade by all members of the panel.
With the defense passed and over, Robert was beyond relieved. The walk back to his office to grab his wallet was a bit of a blur. It was almost as though he was in shock. The others were leaving their jackets behind because the walk was going to be a warm one so Robert did the same. The sun shone down on him like it hadn't done in months. He walked as a man would with a literal huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.
They grabbed a table outside the restaurant and Sal ordered the first round of drinks. Beer hadn't tasted so good to Robert in his life. He practically melted into his chair while his brain tried to comprehend the enormity of what he'd just accomplished. With the appetizers ordered, Robert was in a fully festive mood. He talked to the other three of his Latino heritage, how proud his parents and his whole family would be for him. His wife had been so supportive of him pursuing this stage of his education later in his life and he owed a lot to her and their kids.
After the second round was ordered, Sal finished it rather quickly and had to leave for a dinner with his wife and some friends. Since the ladies weren't going anywhere, neither did Robert. They chatted on a truly personal level for the first time in months. Robert learned that both Chrissy and Denise had come to the school around the same time and that they were pretty fast friends.
He noticed them teasing each other quite a bit during the conversation and hadn't really seen that angle from either of them before. It made sense that they were friends, but he'd never really noticed any sort of connection between them previously. Chrissy and Denise were both married with adult kids and they both spoke about how it had been fun finding ways to fill their lives with their kids out of their houses.
By the time the third round of drinks were downed by all three Chrissy ordered a round of tequila shots that were in her own words "to honor Robert's Latino heritage". Now Robert didn't know about these other two but he was already starting to feel a little bit tipsy at that point. At nearly 6' tall and 185 lbs, he was no small man. In fact, he was actually pretty well built due to his strict regimen of weightlifting and running. He wasn't new to drinking either as his 41 years had seen a few fairly rough nights in the past.