Christian presenting his senior thesis in front of faculty advisors and thesis seminar students.
Photo Credit: Joseph Campell.
I am still recovering from the high (relief, really) of submitting my senior thesis a short while ago. After spending months under incredible amounts of stress, finally sending that email felt like finishing your last final of the semester, except a hundred times better. When I originally applied to participate in the seminar, it was largely because of encouragement from some professors. They pressed me to write the thesis because it would be “a great way to wrap up my undergraduate career”. Admittedly, I was initially not too keen because my track record with longer research papers is not stellar. I usually have other important classes going on at the same time and find myself pushing research away as its deadline is further along in the semester. After all, bombing a midterm could be irrecoverable for a good final grade in an important class. But the research paper? That’s due in eight weeks, I would rather study for the midterm. The cycle continues until I have a few weeks left to do a semester’s worth of work. Not fun!
The thesis went more or less the same way. Last semester, I took three other difficult classes that each had demanding assignments. That meant that for the entire Fall semester, I completely ignored my paper. I was in the same spot since the summer; five months and no work to show for it. I was not too concerned since my initial framework was straightforward and I had access to the data I needed. Plus, I had the foresight to pick easy classes for the Spring which meant that I could face less distractions. But still, missing all of the weakly enforced deadlines by the thesis director was not a great feeling.
While the academic distractions were limited, other things did eventually pop up. The first two weeks of virtual classes meant that I stayed at home where my parents took up most of my time. Then, I accepted a cool new job, which meant another 10 hours a week not writing my thesis. Toward the beginning of February, I grew concerned. I only had about 2.5 months left and was unsure if I was going to finish it, let alone put out a product good enough to be worthy of honors. After speaking with the director, he emphasized that it would of course be possible to finish, so long as I went ahead at a faster pace. I decided to stay in the program and went about writing the thesis.
What surprised me about the process was that I found enjoyment in it. I expected to feel like I usually do about research papers – race to the finish, submit and be forever done with the idea. Perhaps because this assignment naturally had more weight, I felt more invested in the topic. As I conducted my data analysis, an issue would pop up that derailed me for a few hours. But that derailment is where I learned the most. Each wormhole exposed me to a whole new branch of economics research, leaving me with more questions than I began with. I also realized how subjective social science is. There were many decisions I made along the way that another researcher could disagree on. And neither they nor I would be necessarily wrong! These tiny choices are something inherent in our discipline. Now, whenever I read published work, I have a sense for how authors reach their conclusions. This is insight you cannot get without writing a thesis yourself.
The decision to write the thesis was driven by curiosity and a sense of accomplishment. Not many first-gen, Hispanic students graduate with honors. I wanted to prove to my community that despite any adversity we might have faced to reach this point, it was certainly possible. It would leave me with immense pride knowing that I was not only one of the first in my family to graduate college, but to also be recognized among my major’s best students. Not to mention that this process would also shed light on any possible future of a PhD. Undergoing this long process can provide a glimpse of what the life of an academic provides. While they do not have other classes to worry about, PhD students still have to teach, do administrative duties, etc. My professor echoed this sentiment after I submitted. I shared with him that compared to the Political Science seminar, the Economics Department’s was far more hands off, perhaps to a detriment. But he said that while the approach might not be as helpful, it more accurately reflects his career. His colleagues are not knocking on his door every few months or so asking if he has published.
Overall, the entire experience has been very instructive both from an academic and personal perspective. Having this under my belt has helped me more clearly define what I hope to do with my career. If I were to do it over, I most certainly would start sooner. But the crunch over the last few weeks has not tainted the fact that I might be graduating with a special asterisk on my transcript. Regardless of the outcome, I made myself proud, and that is all one can really ask for from their college experience.