In the spring semester, Melissa defended her dissertation successfully and became a PhD! The University was closed because of the pandemic, so she had to defend her work to her committee over a Zoom meeting. A traditional defense experience it was not, but certainly a memorable one! Well done, Dr. Parks!
P.S. I have a screen shot of the Zoom meeting, but no one knew I was taking it so I thought better of posting–but it provides excellent proof of the unusual circumstances facing 2020 grads across the board.