I think this happened sometime in 2000. You know how a woman can blossom, be energized and be self-motivated by simply being in a “great” relationship? That was how I felt. Every area of my life seemed to have meaning – especially my academics. I felt so good with myself that I made an attempt at an abstract for a student paper contest, which was accepted. I had a few months to write the full paper, get acceptance and present the paper at a conference.