It is hard to believe that I haven't updated our blog since last fall. It is crazy how fast time flies.
This April I graduated. It was kind of a double graduation as I received both my BS and MS in Statistics from BYU. It felt so good being done with everything. The last week of finals was a bit stressful with projects due and a really hard math test to study for. On the last day, Em dropped me off in the morning and I brought my running clothes with me. After studying the entire day, I finally took my math final (unfortunately it didn't go as well as planned - I would have much rather finished with a Stats final) at 2:30. Right after I took the test, I went to my office, changed into my running clothes, put on my ipod earbuds, and ran home. I had been looking forward for this moment (not necessarily the running part, just the being-done-with-everything part) for a long time and it was a really relaxing feeling, knowing that I would never have to worry about classes and grades for the rest of my life (until this fall). That night Em and I went to Carraba's with my cohort to celebrate finishing. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone for one last time. I am really going to miss all of them. Because we had all the same classes and assignments for that past two years we became really good friends. It turns out that everyone that wanted jobs has one lined up while three of us are going on to pursue PhD's.
The next day was graduation. The actual ceremony was kind of long and a little boring. Elder Richard G. Scott was the main speaker (Em took the picture here of him speaking) and gave a good talk, although I don't remember lots of it (something about doing good, serving others, making a difference, etc.). The seats were uncomfortable and it got fairly hot in our caps and gowns but I didn't really care. The best part was idea of the whole thing - that we were graduating. That our hard work was paying off.
I met Em and my Dad and his wife Wendy outside of the Marriot Center for some pictures and then we finished off the night going to Jason's Deli for dinner. It was a fun day.
Friday morning was the actual graduation where I walked and received my diploma. It was done by colleges and mine (Physical and Mathematical Sciences) was in the Wilkinson's center ballroom. I enjoyed this ceremony quite a bit better than the day before.
The valedictorian was actually one of my best friends from high school, Aaron Pulsipher. I guess he has a 4.0 and is going to med school at UPenn next fall. The talks were all good and many spoke of gratitude for their time at BYU and the relationships that were made while attending here. (I apologize for the blurry pics - we didn't figure out the right settings on our camera until later)
After the ceremony we had a Statistics department brunch. It was fun visiting with Em and my professors. The thing I will miss most about my time at BYU will be relationships with my professors. They were all very good at what they did and they always showed a lot of interest in what I was doing. There were three professors in particular that I have become really good friends with (all three ended up writing my letters of recommendations for PhD applications), Dr. Reese, Dr. Blades, and Dr. Johnson.
This is Dr. Reese and I. Dr. Reese took me under his belt at the start of my junior year as an undergraduate. I really didn't know very much about statistical theory at this point, so I wasn't going to help in his research very much, but he didn't seem to care. He met with me once a week for that first year and helped me learn a lot of valuable research skills along the way. When I started the master's program, he became my adviser and helped me out with my master's project. He also got me a research position last summer at NCAR in Boulder, CO, and got me the same position this summer. In addition to all of this, I am currently working on a tennis statistics paper (trying to determine if the hot-hand exists in tennis) with him that I will continue to work on during my PhD program. He is extremely outgoing and is living proof that a statistics professor can be socially savvy. He also is a huge sports buff (and unfortunately a huge Federer fan) so it was fun to have someone to talk tennis with in the department.
This is Dr. Blades and I. I first got to know Dr. Blades the summer before I started the Master's program. She had asked me to teach her tennis so we did tennis lesson's once a week. I have continued to teach her regularly once or twice a week throughout the past two years (except winters). She is probably the most academic professor in the department and is very thorough in everything she does. She is really enjoyable to talk to because she knows a lot about just about everything. She teaches the first semester theory course in the Master's program. It is the consensus most difficult class in the program. Very rarely does someone pull off an A in her course. I think the department wants it that way to kind of "wake" you up to graduate school. It still is the hardest class I have ever taken. After I took the first midterm, I felt aweful. I felt like I did poorly and after talking to other students, I felt I certainly didn't do as well as them. I was right. I ended up getting a D and to this day I am pretty sure it was one of the lowest scores. I was pretty embarrassed and I felt inadequate but it never seemed to phase Dr. Blades. She always encouraged me to apply to the top programs and believed that I would be successful. I really appreciated that. I ended up getting a B in that class. It did wake me up, and I did really well in all my other classes and am pretty sure I finished near the top of my class in the Master's program.
Lastly, this is Dr. Johnson and I. I took my first statistics class from him at BYU and it was also the first class he had ever taught. He was fresh off his PhD from Harvard. Interestingly enough, he is leaving BYU this year also as he got a job at Boston University that does more of the research he is interested in. The thing I appreciate most about him is that he is a great example of someone that clearly has their priorities straight. I had three classes from him and he is famous for saying "Statisticians take their jobs too seriously." He is very good at what he does (I think he recently got a million dollar grant from the NSF) but it is very clear that his job is not his life. His family and how he treats others comes first. I remember one time talking to him about how busy school was and he said something that I will never forget. He spoke of getting 'graded' on certain aspects of your life and how it is impossible to get a 4.0. Sometimes we have to get a 'B' in our school work or our research. Sometimes we have to get a 'C' on our church callings or our jobs. But he said there is never a place to get anything below an 'A' for being a husband and father. I like that.
This is the three (out of twelve) that are pursuing PhD's. Andrew Olsen (left) was my office mate and is going to Ohio State. Aside from being smart and very hard working, he is one of the nicest guys I know. Doug VanDerWerken (middle) has become my best friend in the program. Em and I hang out with him and his wife quite a bit. He very studious and funny and is going to Duke this fall. Because he will be so close, we will continue to hang out with them over the next five years.
After the brunch, Em and I went and took pictures in front of the BYU entrance sign. By this point I was fairly pictured out, but I didn't seem right to not get the traditional graduation pictures.
We finished off the day going to PF Changs with all my siblings (except for Heather in North Carolina). Em had asked me what I wanted for my graduation gift and I had said it would be fun to go to dinner with the family. She had recently got a bonus from her work and offered to treat everyone to dinner. It was fun hanging out with everyone and enjoying a nice meal.
