A woman celebrated completing her doctoral program by doing a photo shoot with her dissertation.

Eve Humphrey often joked about her dissertation being her “baby” since it kept her up at night, made her gain weight from stress eating and hurt her back because she was always hunched over a computer. It took Humphrey six years to complete her biology doctorate at Florida State University, and she wanted to commemorate the occasion.

"I’m not super celebratory, but I wanted to do something that was fun," Humphrey told Good Morning America. "Science can be very straightforward and I wanted to do something to commemorate what I did and take a moment to be proud of myself."

The shoot is also an opportunity for Humphrey to poke fun at people who ask her when she will have an actual baby with her husband.

“People have wanted me and my husband to have kids for so long, so I was like, I’m going to give them a maternity shoot to show what I’ve been working on for 6 years!” she told People.

She asked her friend Korie Mitchell, who is a professional photographer, to take the pictures.

After Humphrey successfully defended her dissertation, Mitchell posted the photos on Facebook. She thought her family and friends would get a kick out of it but didn’t expect the photos to go viral.

“Online, it’s been crazy: People talking about women in academia, and if women are celebrated for their professional achievements, and can women juggle having a child and being in academia,” Humphrey shared.

She’s spoken to graduate students who needed some advice.

“I think it’s great because I’ve had an opportunity to talk to graduate students,” she continued. “They’ve messaged me and I’ve had an opportunity to encourage them. It’s all a little overwhelming. When I open my phone or my computer, it’s just more and more people and I’m like, ‘Whoa! What is happening?’”

Mitchell was happy to be a part of this project.

“It was extremely fun! I was also really proud,” she said. “I’ve known Eve close to two years now. I’d seen how she’d have to leave things early to go study or do research.”

Humphrey moved to New York for a job at Syracuse University. She will travel to Florida in December to attend her graduation.

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