I was invited to the O’Neill Honors Program when I changed majors from Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences to Policy Analysis in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at the end of my sophomore year. The invitation was a great opportunity, but I did not entirely know what I was getting myself into. Switching majors after my sophomore year, I was already on a crunch to fulfill all my needed credits in O’Neill and still graduate in 4 years. I want to address this post to anyone who is having doubts about completing their thesis for any number of reasons. I was there. If I can do it, you can too.
Assuming you have a busy schedule (like I did), you will need to choose what to prioritize. If you’re reading this at the start of V499, you’ll likely have already chosen a topic and conducted your research for a literature review. While the background to your topic is extremely important, the focus of your paper is what you contribute to the topic through data analysis. Don’t put off your data processing and analysis. As you write the paper section by section, whichever section is due next will likely be your priority. Just because your analysis comes at the end of the paper, it doesn’t mean it is not a priority. As my fellow classmates shared their presentations and papers, the best ones were by students that started on their data analysis early. Your data section is due later in the semester because it will take a significant amount of time to do. If you are a procrastinator like myself, you will need to find a way to motivate yourself to work on your data throughout the semester. In my section of V499 we had small groups that were supposed to hold each other accountable. When we first made commitments to hold each other accountable, it was limited to the next assignment that was due. If I could go back and change the way I approached the semester, I would have dedicated the group to work on our data. We all knew we were going to get everything completed by the deadlines, but we may have all gotten our data done sooner if we had encouraged each other to share our data progress. If peer groups won’t hold you accountable, meet with your advisor and get them to hold you accountable. You don’t have to think about the rest of the semester, just what you want to get done by the next meeting. You picked your topic for a reason. It is interesting enough for you to spend two semesters of work on. So, prioritize your data!
I hope that did not sound too intimidating. I promise it is not! Waiting until April to meaningfully start on your data processing is much more challenging than beginning early in the semester. I mentioned meeting with peer groups and your advisor. I want you to know that you are not doing this alone. Not only are there many students in the same position as you, but your V499 professor and your advisor are here to help. As I started the semester, I felt like I was working on the paper completely alone. I would have been less nervous about the whole process if I knew what a large support network I had from the beginning. I know procrastination comes from many sources. Maybe you have a lot on your plate and push off a big far away project; or maybe you’re nervous about the process and want to delay it. You have many people who will help you succeed, all you need to do is ask. You had total freedom to pick your thesis topic, for me this was the last paper I wrote as an undergraduate. Try your best to enjoy it! I hope this post has helped you see that your thesis is not as scary as you may think. As you think about the semester ahead, remember you are more than capable of completing this paper.
Ashley Culbertson is a senior majoring in Policy Analysis.