the best defense is a good offense

As of 04/29/2026 16:40 EST, I passed my honors thesis defense! I've spent the past month and a half (since about 3/16) worrying about this thesis and I'm finally freed. I can take what little time I have left and enjoy my last two days of college, though I know i'm going to be hanging around until the end of june, when my lease expires. This thesis feels like it's taken years off my life, between the severe sleep deprivation, stress, and carcinogen exposure from the naphthalenes and cigarette smoking. I suspect a PhD dissertation and defense is going to be far worse, although I have learned a lot about research, writing, and good research habits from my honors thesis. I did quit smoking though, so that's good. I can't quit nicotine until I get home since the withdrawals are so agonizing. One thing I realized is that I am now a subject matter expert, at least when it comes to my thesis project. I've already open-sourced the files, now I just need to publish my results and spread the…