A post from student blogger Brittany

These last few weeks I’ve been in a haze of stress with the semester wrapping up, preparing for my last two business plan competitions and the bane of my existence aka the job search.

I am happy to report back to you all that I successfully completed my final capstone presentation yesterday morning. Although I was dead tired due to my presentation being at 8:30am and not getting much sleep, I got great feedback about my client counseling skills and my understanding of patent law.  It was a great feeling to know that I could convey my knowledge of patent law in a manner that was beneficial to my client while responding quickly to questions from the MSPL program director and the Office of Technology Transfer. After working on my PhD for 5 years, it is pretty crazy to think about the amount of information I’ve been able to retain about a completely new field in less than a year.

One another note, I HAVE A JOB!!!!! I officially accepted an offer from an amazing firm in Downtown Chicago as a technical advisor and I can’t wait to start. Receiving the offer was pretty much the highlight of my year.  I’d begun to accept the possibility of not have a job following graduation and having to hustle and bustle during the summer to find a position.  I cried like a baby when I got the offer and shared the news with my mother who then shared with the entire world (I guess you can say she was proud of me). It’s such a relief to no longer have that on my plate.

Winning my last two business plan competitions and passing the patent bar are the two things can make these last months at Notre Dame any better. This year has been a roller coaster ride but it hasn’t quite come to a complete stop just yet.