The time finally came for Sam to defend his Dissertation. This is the paper that consumed his life for over a year and took away many nights of sleep. Defending one's dissertation consists of a formal presentation (30 to 45 minutes) in from of your academic board and then you answer questions from said board while they critique your research and make sure you really know your stuff. Talk about hard core! Sam did great and he passed and was finally awarded that stamp of approval of finishing his course work. So proud of him; just don't ask me to tell you what it was about. :)