An Honorable Conundrum

Trafton B.

November 28, 2010 - 5:45 PM

In case my poor rendition of Hamlet's clichéd Shakespearian soliloquy wasn't clear enough for you, my current academic crisis is deciding whether or not I should write a senior honors thesis next the winter and spring quarter. It's an issue that's been weighing heavily on my mind for the past two months.

As of last spring I was almost positive that I would be writing a thesis, due in part because I actually found a research topic I worth pursuing. My mindset at the time was that I've learned about as much as I can inside the classroom, and I need to start gaining some real world experiences. It's a matter of working on projects that I can put on a resume rather than taking tests and passing classes.

Recent events have thrown my once stalwart feelings about a senior thesis into disarray. In this regard I'd like to ask your pardon as I use this blog to think on paper (and online) in hopes that I might be able to plan out the remainder of my college career. And, please, by all means let me know if you have any immediate reactions. As you will soon find out I really need some guidance.

Before I get ahead of myself I should probably give you an abstract of my project topic. I would be working with a Lane County commissioner to develop a system of geothermal heating wells to be used by residential buildings. The catch is that they need to be within close proximity to county roads so that Lane County would pay the upfront costs of the geothermal infrastructure and then be able to sell the energy to local residential buildings. The theory behind this would be that residents would have the incentive to retrofit their homes to use a clean renewable energy source and theoretically this geothermal system could be scalable and repeatable in any county across Oregon or the United States.

The benefits of writing this thesis, as far as I can see them at least, are as follows. In terms of my resume it means graduating with honors, exploring clean energy and local government policy in depth, and having a supremely legitimate writing sample that I can be proud to show to employers. The experience with independent research, mapping our deadlines and synthesizing knowledge from different sources and professionals would be helpful in my future endeavors regardless of what they pan out to be.

The downside of writing a thesis, in short, would be the amount of work it would take. Obviously I don't know the specifics of the scope and scale of my project, but I can safely assume it would take a lot of effort, coffee and late nights at the library. I usually have a no pain, no gain attitude towards schoolwork, but for the first time in my college career I need to consider whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze.

Another side of the equation is the pros and cons of not doing a thesis. If I didn't write a thesis I'd have the gift of free time. I would be able to take a class in the spring, Urban Farm, which I've wanted to take for years now. I've considered training for the Eugene Half-Marathon, in which case I would need the extra time for. Plus, it's my senior year of college. It's the time to do all those things that I've been meaning to do but haven't had the courage or forthright to do already. Do I really want to spend the next six months in the back section of Knight Library?

The con of not writing a thesis on the other side would be missing a golden opportunity. My life would be more stress free, guaranteed, but I don't want to look back on this time in my life and regret that I didn't write a thesis when I had the chance. In some way I feel like not writing a thesis is chickening out.

My other thoughts are wondering whether or not I'm mentally prepared for a thesis. I've never considered researching and writing my strong suits as a student. Plus if I do want to write this paper I would need to contact different professors and the commissioner as soon as possible. Also, I've already committed to the Community Planning Workshop (CPW) with the PPPM department, which will likely consume a lot of my time during the winter and spring. I'm sure I'll elaborate more on the CPW in the coming weeks, but to give you a brief introduction it's very similar to the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) that I working with last year, except this time I'll be the only undergraduate in the program; everyone else will be PPPM grad students. Yikes!

Okay, I'm done rambling. I appreciate you letting me think aloud. Believe it or not it helped me settle my thoughts quite well. I think I've made a decision, but I don't want to give it away before I know for sure. Once again I'm open to comments if anyone feels particularly that I should go one way or another, and feel free to guess one way or the other if you'd like.

Happy Holidays and Go Ducks!