Surviving a Thesis:
Why you should consider a thesis project?
By Kelly Kohlwey, UHP Graduate, English Major
What's the one word that can make any honors student run and hide? Thesis. In order to graduate from the University Honors Program, students must complete a Senior Capstone. This requirement can be met by completing either a Thesis or the Senior Seminar course. Most students opt to trudge through the Senior Seminar rather than complete their own thesis. As a survivor of the thesis project, I would like to put in a good word for it.
Although tackling a thesis may seem daunting and even unnecessary, I can attest to the many advantages it offers. I began the process of writing my thesis way back in my sophomore year here at UWO (don't fret if you are beyond that point; thesis planning can begin as late as one semester before you want to complete your capstone). After attending a Pizza with Professors, in which the subject was the benefits of writing a thesis, the wheels began to turn. I contacted Dr. Paul Klemp of the English Department (and current Acting Director of the UHP) and ran my idea past him: "Mouse v. House-Why is it not Mice and Hice?" Unfortunately, the idea didn't fly, so I thought about it some more, revised the idea, and represented the idea: "Reader Response Criticism; How Personal Experience Affects Literary Interpretation."
I was off--a year and a half left to go, and I had nailed down the idea. I kicked up my shoes and didn't rush to make any further progress on the thesis proposal (a very "honors student" move, I might add). I finally turned the proposal in at the last moment possible and sprinted to keep up with deadlines from there on out.
That said, I have found the thesis to be the most enjoyable project of my college career. Why is that? The work is entirely mine. I researched the literary theory as this was something I hadn't learned in the classes I had taken. I went into the classrooms and collected the data. I input the information from the surveys into the SPSS (a new program I had to master in order to produce the results I needed). With each step of the thesis project, I gained new knowledge--from where the Sociology Department is located, to what in the world SPSS is, to how people use their personal background to interpret a piece of literature.
Above and beyond the academic benefits the thesis offers, it also presents real benefits in the "real" world (that is, post-undergraduate...ahem, work or graduate school). I have been sending résumé after résumé out to prospective employers (as we all need to do when graduation is just around the corner). In several interviews, I have been asked to explain my thesis work. After explaining the aim of my study and research, one woman commented, "That's as much work as I did for my doctorate!" I simply smiled at the woman as she excitedly made comments on her notepad.
The completion of a thesis will turn heads in any arena. If you are applying for graduate school, you have already completed a major study on your own. Bonus points! If you are applying for a job and have successfully completed a large project on your own, be prepared to see some impressed looks. Not to mention the sense of pride you feel when the finished product of your labors is printed, bound, and put back into your hands. These are the benefits that the Honors Seminar cannot offer--the work assigned is comparable in seminar, but the payout of the thesis is immeasurable.
