Tuesday 7 June 2016

Hey I just met you...and this is crazy,but here is my draft, so call me maybe? No, seriously I need feedback.

A small step for students, a great step for the final version of our thesis...between yesterday and today we have submitted our draft, and I must say...though relieved, there is still some work to do, at least in my case. My thesis as it is lacks introductions and final conclusion, and a paragraph or two in each chapter. 

I am no expert in this topic, and this is my first thesis, but let me tell you a bit about my experience, maybe it could help some of you, and for the rest who have their thesis almost ready-have mercy. As I started writing I kept having the feeling that I was typewriting in the oldest machine ever-scratch that-I meant I felt as if I was typing in those old typing machines while biking uphill...too much? Well you get the idea. As I noticed my spirit running low I decided I would write my chapters separately, in different documents: So I had 4 documents plus bibliography-which I forced myself to complete every time I used a text instead of waiting for the very end. The reason behind this is because if I wrote a single document then the pages were somehow harder to fill, but when I opened a new document, it was easier to write 3 or 4 pages.

There is no need to say it: Writing in this fashion could cause problems with consistency and harmony between chapters, but I prioritized my 'student vitality' because consistency can be solved by re-reading and editing, since you wrote it, you should be able to bind those ideas together. But if you lack energy and spirit, then that can become a much bigger problem. After all, each find their way to 'stay alive'-the Bee Gees style.

Of course I would like my brain to function in a more orderly fashion, but I am a rebel with a cause, and as such, here is my humble advice: Do whatever method you find useful, do not force yourself because a book or someone says this is the correct way. Continuing that train of thought, you do not even have to listen to me, write in the park, during the night, at 3pm, with music, no music, 20 hours concert of Bieber, death metal, you name it... just keep writing. Discuss your ideas with someone, it makes your head think clearly...feedback is crucial! Whereas it is from your supervisor or a friend, talk your thesis away.

Anyway, as I finished work today I was happy that a huge step was over, and as I took the train back home I thought I deserved something special... a treat. That is why, dear students, I did what any other student in the world would have done: I went home and made meatballs. Because…



Today is the day,
What better day than today,
To deliver your draft, and make some meatballs,
Because, what better day than today,
And what better meal than spaghetti with home-made meatballs.


T