How to NOT do your thesis
Whether you’re doing yours now, or will be soon, watch out for the following examples of what not to do when you’re doing your thesis.
You’ve probably seen them. Students with dead-looking eyes and swollen eye bags, clad in their not-so-neat uniforms, running hazardously around the campus, drained and almost emotionless — much like the zombies you see in the movies. Alas! It’s that time of the year again, when undergrads will have to go through one of the most difficult part of college life — their undergraduate thesis.
But you know what they say. It’s all a matter of perspective. It can be a big obstacle in getting that diploma, but if you play your cards right, then it will definitely bring you so much closer to it. So whether you’re doing yours now, or will be soon, watch out for the following examples of what not to do when you’re doing your thesis.
1. Not attend your Thesis 101
A bunch of you who already took their Thesis 101 are probably grinning in guilt right now. Let’s admit it, it can be really boring at times and a lot of students take it for granted, thinking that what will only matter in the end is your final output anyway so you might as well skip it. But truth be told, you will most probably regret missing your thesis 101 classes when you’re already sent out to gather your data and write your manuscript.
Let me emphasize this again just in case: ATTEND YOUR THESIS 101 CLASSES. Apart from it being a pre-requisite course, the lessons that you will be learning in this class are vital for you to be able to finish your final output. From the most basic knowledge like your manuscript format to know-hows and how-to’s , thesis 101 will be your boat in the sea of ignorance and will probably save you from a lot of trouble in the future.
2. Copy and paste
Yes, whoever invented the copy and paste function deserves a Nobel Prize for making your lives so much easier as students in the past years. But when you’re doing your thesis, you would do a lot better by keeping your fingers away from the ‘Ctrl+C’ and ‘Ctrl+V’ keyboard shortcuts.
As college students, you are expected to at least already reach an understanding that plagiarism is wrong and very much illegal. We are not saying that you cannot get ideas and data from other published works anymore, but you have to always remember to give proper citations and credits to their respective authors. As much as possible, do paraphrase to the best of your abilities.
3. Rely on Wikipedia
Wikipedia is probably not the most reliable source out there. Never ever cite wikipedia as a source! It’s an “open encyclopedia” meaning its content are from internet users, and it can be edited by anyone, anytime. There are lots of better sources out there, and ‘googling’ them is already too easy. You should look for websites with ‘.org’ or ‘.edu’ in its address. But if you want to use data from Wikipedia, I suggest you look below the page where the citations are and use those links instead. That way, you will be directly taken to the source of the information and will be able to verify the validity of the facts that you will be getting.
4. Blame it on your panelists or adviser
This has often been the case when things go sideways. Point the finger on the panel. Yes, some panelists may seem annoyingly unsatisfiable unlike the other group’s. And yes, some advisers may not seem to be as supportive as the other advisers. But no matter what you say, it’s all in your hands.
In the first place, you’re the one who will nominate your adviser and the members of your panel, so do not suddenly go blaming your bad fate on them as if you unluckily pulled out a bad card from a random draw. Remember that they’re not your enemies. They are there to help you make your work better. On the other hand, don’t expect and depend too much on your adviser. While there are advisers who take the extra mile by helping their advisees more than they should, it is still your thesis and not theirs. At the end of the day, the outcome of your thesis very much depends on you and nobody else.
5. Assume that you work better when you cram
We hear a lot about students who claim that they intentionally cram their works because they actually do better when they’re rushing. Do yourself a favor and steer away from this delusion.
You can argue that you’ve pulled off cramming once or a couple of times but imagine how much better you could have done if you did not rush into it just so you could meet the deadline. Cramming is a no-no. When you cram, you sacrifice the quality of your work and are putting yourself at a great risk of failing. Yes, you may have managed to get away with it in your other projects, I strongly advise you to not risk it with your thesis. Research was never meant to be rushed. If it was, you wouldn’t even be reading an article like this. It takes time to finish a decent thesis — use your time wisely.
Indeed, failing your thesis is a scary thought. But all it takes is a little effort aimed at the right direction. Always remember, the very purpose of why we’re all doing this is to make human life better. Research was designed to identify and solve problems. Aim to do it right, and who knows, you might even be contributing to saving lives. Not every college student gets to do that. ■ By Don Kevin O. Hapal / First published in AH Volume III, Issue 1
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