I am filled with so many emotions and are overly excited to share that after six years of persistance through many life changes including: loving 12 foster children as our own, collecting research through a pandemic, surviving my first administrative job, welcoming our beautiful daughter into the world, and celebrating the birth of our second, just to name a few......last week on Thursday, April 20th, I successfully defended my dissertation! It is officially Dr. Mach!!!

A good friend once told me that a dissertation does not occur in a day nor does it occur alone, and those words could not be more true. This would not have been possible without the help and support of sooooo many people along the way who helped me make this possible. I am forever in their debts! Especially my beloved wife Mary Mach who was by my side every step of the way, and to my advisor, Jane Vogler, Ph.D. who never missed an opportunity to tell me to "keep going"! THANK YOU!!!

Looking forward to life's next adventure! (Though, I promised my wife I would wait at least one week before starting something new, lol)