The time has come...for administrative duties.

So you remember when I said that you are released and have to basically fend for yourself and make a name for yourself at Uppsala. The same goes for when you have finished. Now that I have finished my presentation, which went excellent by the way, I have to do the administrative tasks required to apply for my degree. That means chasing down teachers to get my grades reported, getting signatures indicating my thesis has been approved and I passed, and then I wait. Wait!? What for? Well, now I have to wait till all the grades are put into the system. Once that is done, then I have the points to apply for my degree. Well everything is done so now I wait. Once the points have been put into the system, and I submit the application, then I am completely done. It is ok though. It basically gives me a reason to come by and see what is happening within the walls of Ångström and talk to people about current and future projects. Hopefully to see if there is something I would be interested in doing as a future Ph.D. project. That is for next week though. As for now, the day is done so I am going home to relax and enjoy the fact that I have completed my M.Sc. from Uppsala University. Good luck to all the future students, perhaprs we will see each other walking the halls one day.

The time is near and I am almost ready

So in the past two weeks I have been running around trying to get my thesis to a point where it satisfies my supervisor, Jan-Erik.Today, I got the thumbs up. I have booked a time and place for my final presentation and now am working on finishing up the presentation. I have been in this home stretch longer than I imagined I would, but making sure the small details are taken care of is important. I am fortunate that my supervisors are readily accessible to ensure my work is as complete as possible. However, upon finishing,there were some interesting questions that arose and a slight rework of some my analysis was done. Technically, I did a new data analysis lowering my data's altitude ceiling from 1,400km to 1,150km. This changed the shape and distribution of my final plot indicating that there were other processes going on below the density peak (density peak is the point in Titan's ionosphere that has the largest concentration of particles). I am sure that there this requires some further analysis and I have been given a direction to pursue to see what happens.

In other news, now that my work has been completed and final steps are in the works, it is time to turn my attention to the future. Specifically speaking, PhD positions. There has been one advertised as of this moment and I have to complete it by the end of February. It is in Stockholm, not in Uppsala, so I am cautious. However, if they are 10% of what is here at Uppsala, then it would be a great place to study. Perhaps not as good as Uppsala, but...can't really think of something to say here. Uppsala is great.

As my time at Uppsala draws to a close, I have begun to reflect and become wistful. All in all,I am reminded of a poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken". For those not familiar, here is the link.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Thank you to all the people at Uppsala University; the ladies in the registration office, the people that work the access card/key counter, the cashier at Jalla that asked how I was doing every time I visited, the lady at the front counter who reluctantly smiled back at me, and all the people in IRF and the astro corridor that have made this experience more than anyone could have possibly asked for. Specifically naming people and saying what they have done would take forever, so I will just list those that have made a significant influence during my time here.

Thank you Andreas Korn.
Thank you Anders Eriksson.
Thank you Mats André.
Thank you Nikolai Piskunov.
Thank you Jan-Erik Wahlund.
Thank you Jan Bergman.
Thank you Sven-Erik Jansson.
Thank you Lennart Åhlén.
Thank you Karin Ågrin.
Thank you Nils Bergvall.

And in case I forgot, which is quite possible, Thank you (insert name here). :)

Ok, now I have to do a small bit of analysis. I will let every one know how the presentation went. Till then, don't stop striving for success.