I'd like to thank the Academy . . .

Part of the submission requirements for my dissertation includes an "Acknowledgements" page. Which is great--I'm all for gratitude, and I certainly could not have written this dissertation by myself.

But acknowledgements always end up sounding super cheesy. I mean, I want to thank the obvious--my rockstar supervisor, my parents, mentors who helped me get to Oxford, the librarians, etc. But there are so many more things that also helped me write my dissertation--the practical things like the fact that I don't have to use a typewriter and that so many of my resources are online.

If I could write an appendix to my acknowledgements, I would definitely include:

-The Original Broadway cast of Hamilton.  For pump-up music and for making feel hip, cultured, and intelligent. (And for keeping me awake while I wrote bibliographies and footnotes.) Not throwin' away my shot, ya'll.

-The cold, rainy English weather for forcing me to stay in the library and actually write my dissertation.

-Spell check. And the synonym finder on Word (for those times when you use the word "essential" way too many times).

-Dry shampoo. Obviously.

Couldn't have done it without you guys.