For the past several weeks, my thesis has consumed most of my life. It has been present since the beginning of the school year, but as I neared the deadline, it increasingly became the only thing that I could afford to worry about. I gradually gave up evening activities, socializing, and sanity as I sacrificed more and more to the altar of thesis-ness. My thesis also became a convenient scapegoat. Any time I had no time to work on other things, was crabby or a jerk, or avoided other aspects of reality, I could justify it with one word: thesis. But now that has all come to an end.
My thesis is over. It is done. I just submitted it for printing and binding, and I cannot wait to see it looking all professional and official and beautiful. I now get to return to reality (or have to return, depending on how you look at it). I have to say goodbye to a long-term project that has been my constant companion for many months. Of course, I still get to present on it next week, but the writing and editing and adding and worrying and rethinking and looking up sources and all that is done. No matter how much I want to add or change anything, I cannot anymore—thank goodness for deadlines, or I never would have stopped tinkering (or felt the pressure to get going). I made it! I also get to return my giant stack of books to the library. That might just be the sweetest part of turning in my project.
To add a little Pomona magic in, the full thesis is exactly 147 pages.
In celebration of this momentous occasion, I am attaching the front page of my thesis for your viewing pleasure. One day you, too, could have a cover just like this. Admittedly the cover page is not very exciting but it does represent a LOT of work and it looks quite nice, if I do say so myself. I just cannot believe I finally finished it!
Thesis, it’s been real.
Bonus update picture!:
