As of today (4:46pm to be exact) I have completed all of the necessary steps toward earning my Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Woo-hah!

There was a surprising amount of paperwork to be filed with offices all over campus, and a few minor typos that needed to be fixed in the actual thesis. I am still checking on my ability to publish my thesis online; for now (if you’re curious and bored) you can view my defense presentation [5.9mb].

Some random stats on my thesis:

• Word count: 22,600
• Pages: 104
• Number of tables: 12
• Number of figures: 28
• Most common word: “the” (1335 times)
• Most common big word: “phenomena” (127 times)
• Longest word: “misunderstandings” and “environmentalists” (tie)
• Total editing time: 763 hours, 52 minutes, 51 seconds (includes time when it was just open in the background)

I’m glad that it’s over. Guess it’s time to return to the real world!