Done with qualifiers ... but competition moves ahead

Done! I’m sure I’m done with qualifying exams because I did well. But just as I was thinking of maybe taking it easy for the next couple of weeks so I could spend more time with the family, I saw that dreaded paper by someone else doing the very thing I’m working on. Arhggggg!!!! So I’m back in the lab early tomorrow analyzing the paper to see exactly what they did and charge ahead to get results. Such is the life in a nanoscience research lab (as in other fields, of course).

One done .. one to go

The first day of qualifying exams went well. Just a few minutes ago (and much too late to do anything about it) I realized I made a mistake in one of the problems. But I'm pretty sure I did the rest correctly.
I feel pretty good after this and am actually somewhat impatient to see Thursday come and go and get done with this so I can get back to lab and doing something else.
I've also been trying to figure out a way to organize the literature that I read. I'm thinking of using a combination of Fox It to annotate PDF files, Gmail to store them, and Zotero to keep references and other notes. I am thinking of doing it this way because I have to work in different computers. If this works I'll post more about it.

All done studying

Now that I've reviewed how to size a distillation column (something I am sure I will never do) I'm officially done studying for qualifying exams. I have to say I enjoyed the experience as you get to see the whole of your discipline stripped of extra stuff and reduced to the bare basics. It kind of gives you perspective again on what you know and what you can get into deeper if you want to.

Tomorrow is the first day of testing. We'll see how it goes. I actually feel prepared and not that anxious. I'm not sure this is a good thing though.

In any case, I'll review a few more problems and then rest.