Approaching the finish line. Photo Credit: Teresa Brown.
The first full rough draft of my thesis was due on February 26, 2021. As I was frantically working to meet this deadline I realized that exactly a year ago, ok a year and two days ago, I had stumbled upon the document that sparked the idea that would eventually become this 55 page paper. It will be exactly a year and a month for the full project when I turn in my final draft next month.
Without a doubt, this is the longest running academic project I have ever undertaken. Working on this paper for a full year has meant that I’ve been thinking about my research, my argument, and my process for that long. It has been constantly in the back of my mind. It has also meant that I experienced different phases that I don’t usually experience with papers that I have written on significantly shorter timelines. Most interestingly, I got bored with my paper. Unlike an end of term paper that I have, say, a month to write, the year long timeline of this paper has meant that the spark that was initially there when I got the idea for a thesis has felt dull at times.
I was worried that turning the paper in might feel underwhelming, but, to my delight, submitting my first full draft was a good feeling. I wanted to write a thesis because I wanted an experience that felt like some sort of “culmination” of my college experience, and, low and behold, I felt that this month (even if what I turned in was a very rough draft, in need of much editing). It was reassuring to know that, even if at times I am less excited about my topic than I once was, I am still proud of myself for undertaking this project.
Research is a process, and often one that takes quite a bit of time. I think it’s very normal to get excited about an idea, a method, an experiment, a document, and then for that enthusiasm to fade. This is not to say that the enthusiasm fades for good, but rather to say that it will probably come back. It is worth it to persevere through the tough moments and it is normal to have tough moments. It seems to me that everyone in my little thesis class has had tough moments. Whether that was receiving a piece of particularly strong feedback, having difficulty finding a second reader, or feeling it was necessary to make a huge shift in project topic, setbacks are part of research.
It feels good to have turned in my first full draft and it makes me proud to have undertaken this project. I am hopeful that editing my work over the next month and turning in the final draft in March will be even more rewarding — exactly the kind of “culmination” feeling I had hoped for when I first signed up to write a senior thesis.