So last Friday I had my oral exams and I passed!!  Although the last few months of studying have been very stressful, the time I put in was beneficial.   The whole process was much less stressful than I expected but still something I do not want to do again.  I am really looking forward to getting to the microscope and starting to count the samples that I picked up from NOAA.  In addition to counting samples I will be working on designing some rapid deployment mooring for putting out thermistors and an ADCP this summer while I am sampling internal waves.  I look forward to sharing some of the interesting creatures I find in the samples with everyone.