Final Reflection

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about thesis, and I can say that after everything’s been done, I am so relieved and happy with what I was able to accomplish. Turns out I work best when I’m stressed and time-pressed. Anyways, here are some paragraphs I threw together.

Thesis project ideas come from everywhere. Mine came when I was cooking with a friend, not even thinking of senior thesis. Go places and do things that make you happy in your beginning weeks of research. Get back into old hobbies. See things you’ve never seen before, finally get your friends together for a trip to the city that you guys have been putting off. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but sometimes it takes a little on your end to find it. A great idea that comes naturally to you is a prime candidate for a senior thesis project.

Honestly, the development of this project was rocky. There were so many bells and whistles I hoped to include in the finished product that I was so hung up on researching how to get it all working. Just start out with little bits and pieces. Work first on the part you know best, and can get done the easiest. Stay with your vision. If it starts to feel like a giant source of stress looming over your shoulder every day, cut it down to its most basic and pure form. What did you want this project to accomplish? What is its purpose? Find that answer and work towards it to put you back on track. And remember, prototyping is key. Mistakes are bound to happen, so don’t worry about messing up. That’s the point!!

While senior thesis is the perfect time to experiment with out-of-the-box ideas, it can also be ideal with honing in your existing skill set. Going into this project, I had already taken 4 coding classes and 1 computer logic class, and I believe this helped with figuring out how to complete this project. Even so, I learned how to code with both libraries through tutorials, YouTube videos, and Stack Exchange. I think this could be easily done by someone with less coding experience as well. Never discount the power of learning through random tutorials you’ve found online. Senior thesis can be a time to showcase your marketable skills, but it can also be great for experimenting and learning something new. Just make sure you are staying on track.

Set aside a day and just do it. People work in different ways, and for a good majority of the semester, I was working with the “all or nothing mentality.” I wouldn’t start anything up if I knew I had class in a few hours. It was a chore to hook up all the wires, switch out Ethernet cables, and wait for everything to boot up. Because of this, I waited days until I knew I had enough time to work for hours on this, and it slowed the progress. When I code, I want to be able to focus on it 100%. Any kind of distraction throws off my flow and it ends up taking way longer than it should. Unfortunately, my habits carried on through this project and I ended up with a tremendous amount of work to get done in the final week before the showcase. I can’t really give any tips on time management or else I’d feel like a hypocrite, but I do have some advice for all my fellow procrastinators out there: don’t wait a week before the showcase to finish your project, wait two weeks before. You never think you’ll need that additional week, but you always do!

No but actually don’t do this. Please get it done and save yourself the stress!

Working in the Makerspace with John and Brett was so fun in my final days of putting my project together. There was a brief period where I really didn’t think I was going to make it in time for the showcase, that I had put off this project for too long and something was going to break on me and I wasn’t going to have time to fix it. I knew what had to be done, but I drastically underestimated the time it would take. There were some time gates, like ordering equipment from Amazon, finding a day to visit the lumber yard, and soldering the LEDs in the Makerspace. If you plan to order anything online, do it as soon as possible. That way, if you later find out you ordered the wrong thing, or not enough, you can reorder quickly and save yourself a ton of time.

Research EARLY and research SMART. Reach out to professors and ask them questions. They are an absolute wealth of knowledge and have counselled hundreds of students about their thesises (theses?) before.

Chances are you will probably be hunting for jobs while working on your thesis. This was rough for me. Only thing I can recommend for this is to talk to students and teachers about your aspirations. Tell people you are actively looking for a job so if they ever come across an opportunity, you might be the one that pops up in their mind to tell about it. Get your resume and portfolio in shape and have different kinds for different jobs. Tailoring skills and work experience to suit the specific job you’re applying for is key. Check out this post I wrote about dealing with the job hunt, it may help, or at least reassure you that you can do it.

I miss thesis now that it’s over. Making my spice rack was the highlight of my college career. I had fun building it and working with others to achieve my vision. I also made some friends in Thesis and really got to know the senior class. Chris and John led us well. The key is finding it within yourself to do it for yourself. Work until it’s done. Bumps will happen, but just keep going. It’s all part of the creative process. Enjoy it while it’s happening, because like college itself, it’ll end faster than you thought it would. Good luck!

And for anyone wondering, here’s a list of resources and materials I used to build my project:

• AdaFruit CircuitPython NeoPixel Library (light coding)
• Flask-Ask (developing more rigorous skill)
• ngrok (local host)
• Amazon Alexa Skill Developer Console (development and testing platform)
• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
• WS2812B Addressable LEDs
• external power supply
• CNC machine
• Baltic birch plywood
• spice bottles
• jumper cables
• soldering kit
• monitor, keyboard, and mouse