When I first began writing my thesis a year ago, I was absolutely lost and confused about where to start. I knew what I was passionate about and I knew what I wanted to do my research on-but how do I get started? How do I begin to write about all of this?
These are the questions that will run your mind when you begin your process writing your thesis and studying research. It will be a very new and sudden process and something else on your plate-but believe me when I say that it will be worth it. I know it’s hard to tell right now, but just wait until you’re in your senior year and done!
I have always been passionate about criminal justice reform and I have always advocated for lowering mass incarceration rates and instilling ethical standards behind prisons and jails and to hold those who obstruct justice and treat prisoners like animals accountable for their actions. However, I wanted to know what exactly causes criminal behavior and why do people end up back in jail or prison multiple times? It once not enough to teach you a lesson? This was ignorant of me to even think because I have never had experience in mass incarceration and I hopefully never will. But, once I started researching this question-I understood that it is not black and white but a very complex situation. Individuals who end up in the incarceration system grew up in poor home conditions or never had access to education or activities that could help them change their lives-when life gives you an easy way out or a way to make money to provide for your family or a way to escape-you have the chance to take it and majority of those in the system did just that. Then, I found out about rehabilitation programs and the potential they have in reforming offenders and keeping them out of jail and prison and offering them a chance to lead a new and crime-less life. I knew right then and there that THIS was my thesis and I will do everything in my power to gain interviews with former and current offenders and understand these people and the system more. The statistics that I saw and analyzed were not numbers, but human beings and this research had the potential in changing their lives and the way we view the justice system.
This passion drove me to write my thesis and become immersed in it despite how hard the process was. If you are passionate about something-you have the chance to make others aware of it!
FIND AN ADVISOR
You will need an advisor to help you along this process and offer you guidance and support. They will be the ones who read your thesis, drafts, research, all of it. Choose someone who you want to work with based on your relationship and their experience-don’t pick someone simply based on what they teach because you will spend a year with this person. My advisor, Paul Helmke, is one of my mentors and best friends if I am being honest. We became very good friends throughout this process and I know that I can count on him whenever I need guidance or help. This is how you should feel.
DESIGN YOUR PLAN
Figure out your plan with your thesis once it is finalized; how will you conduct research and how will you go about it? Don’t start too late in the game or else you will struggle to get it all together! Start early when you can. Figure out your plan with your advisor and your thesis professor-they are here to help!
WRITE IT OUT SECTION BY SECTION
A way to make this process easier is to write out your thesis section by section and perfect it as you go-start with your introduction, literature review since you will already be doing research and keep going. Soon, you will have a draft and you can edit and add as you go with the advice of your professor and advisor.
USE YOUR RESOURCES
I owe Dr. Brass so much as a professor. Without her and Prof Helmke, I would have been lost in my thesis journey. She helped me narrow down my topic, figure out a research plan and how I wanted to go about all of this. She is here to help and wants to help! If you ask her to look over your work or how to get started on something-she will give you guidance and advice-do not take it lightly, use it!
I wish you the best of luck on your thesis journey, it a long process and will be difficult, but one of the most important things you will do in your college career as an advocate and an honors student. Take it seriously and use this as a chance to elevate the voices of those who need someone to speak up for them. Please reach out to me at ssmody@iu.edu if you have any questions! Enjoy the meme below and enjoy college, I miss it already.
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