>When the day of my defense came, I got to campus early—far too early—and spent most of my time perched underneath some monument to a long-dead white man while

>When the day of my defense came, I got to campus early—far too early—and spent most of my time perched underneath some monument to a long-dead white man while chain-smoking and obsessively texting everyone I knew. No reverence for the dead or their legacy or any help they provided.