Deep breath… send.

“First, I want to thank you all for agreeing to be on my committee.  You have each been influential in my graduate work and I am thrilled to have your support and guidance through the exam process.”

This is the first line of the email I sent today regarding my first committee meeting.  What this means is that, my committee and I will meet for the first time to approve that I have the required courses and we will begin developing my exam questions.  I will be taking my exams over the summer.  Once those are finished, I will be able to work on my dissertation and… eventually graduate!  This is a big, scary thing.  The first committee meeting…  I have a committee!  I have a group of people that are invested in helping me complete a PhD.  I’m just about done with coursework and I’ll be on to my own, specialized work.  I feel like I’m finally becoming.  Wow.  I’m really gonna do this.