Mission impossible completed!

We returned our thesis for evaluation a few days ago. Phew!

Here I am now, all finished with the writing, and the researching, and the reading and, most of all, the stressing. It still hasn’t sunk in that it is finished, we did it, and it’s all over and done with. Slowly, slowly, though, it is starting to feel better and better….give me a few days and I’ll be jumping up and down with joy!

I still get the odd idea or thought in my head about what could be put in the thesis, which book I could refer to, or how the subheadings could be arranged - I guess my brain is still on Thesis Mode. But the coolest thing is that after finishing the thesis you realize the process from start to finish, and it all seems so clear, and a little easy, in your head. Because a process it is, on many levels, not only of the actual writing but also of growing as a researcher, writer, and, I might even suggest, as a person.

The process of our thesis took about four months altogether, from the initial idea to the finished product. The last stretch before our final deadline, the last couple of weeks to be exact, were interesting, to say the least: I was waking up at night to write down a sentence for that one paragraph of chapter whatsitsnumber, constantly thinking what is left and what should be done next, wondering if it is all coming together as it should, frantically trying to find the right book where I remembered seeing this, that and the other (silly me for not making proper notes!), and all the while feeling the glooming deadline closing in on me like it was confirmed as doomsday.

As amazing and unbelievable as it seems to me now, in the end we did finish the thesis, and are very happy with it. It didn’t come easy, though; there were many loooooong days and nights spent researching, reading, writing, editing, and then writing some more. The late nights were not complete without some temper tantrums and manic giggle attacks, complete brain blocks and mixed up words (anyone wanna guess what plörk means, at three in the morning?), all of which were accompanied by bucket loads of coffee and candy.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, it really hasn’t sunk in yet that our thesis is finally finished. We might still have to make some corrections to it, and haven’t yet a clue as to what grade we will get from it (fingers crossed!), but at least the once a mission impossible is now a mission completed. And I’m happy to say I am still best friends with my thesis partner (at least she hasn’t blocked my calls yet), and I owe a big thanks to her for putting up with me.

So all’s well that ends well, and now its time for some down time. For me that means sleeping (oh the luxury!), spending time with friends, and getting to read a book of my own choice for a change. Most importantly, however, the best thing is not having to switch on the laptop only to writewritewrite!

The writer is Janita Nurmi, a student of the Degree Programme in Tourism, who is currently doing her practical training in the R&D and Education Services of TAMK. She is hoping to graduate in the fall and go on to conquer the world.

Tackling the Big T

In the beginning and during the studies the Bachelor’s thesis at the end of them seems very distant and, to be honest, a little scary. You get an idea of what it is supposed to be: a final training of gathering the right information, learning to research the right things relevant to the topic, using accurate academic language in the text, and, most importantly, going through the process that is the creation of a thesis. However, in practice the beginning of the whole process is nothing but complete chaos, at least for me it seemed that way. It’s a big task, the last crunch if you will, before the completion of a Degree, and usually the last milestone before graduation.

  
I wrote the thesis with a friend of mine on the topic of assessing and developing the Degree Programme in Tourism. The topic was chosen because the programme is fairly new, and perhaps therefore still finding its steady foothold in its standard operations. The topic isn’t really in connection with the tourism industry, but for us it was too interesting a topic to ignore.

Studying in the Degree Programme in Tourism....the view from my future office, perhaps?

The beginning of our thesis came about while taking the bus to class with a friend of mine, who studies in the same degree programme. She suggested that maybe we should think about writing the thesis together. My first reaction was relief: I wouldn’t have to do it alone, as I had a feeling it could take me a year or two if no one was there to push me a bit. The second reaction, though, was concern – could we work together on something as demanding as this, and still remain friends? However, relief won, and we decided to write the thesis together. After the idea of a topic, and its acceptance, it was like stepping into this vast unknown territory. I had a very vague idea of the whole thing, despite the academic writing and research courses I know I took somewhere along the line….

Reading material, anyone?

After the few initial meetings with our supervisor, and me slightly panicking after each one, we were able to get to work. We took to the library, trying to find whatever we could that had even remotely something to do with our topic. We created a questionnaire to be used in collecting the data, and handed it out to our research sample, which consisted of the students and teachers of the DpT. We studied various subjects such as curriculum development, research methods, the concept of a University of Applied Sciences, as well as a whole bunch of other subjects.  The literature we read seemed a bit useless in the beginning, but in hindsight it was all worth it when the time came to write and “connect the dots” between the data and theory.

Somewhere along the line the thesis started to form almost as on its own, and it became clearer what it should include and how it would be put together. It’s not an easy task, I can tell you, and it takes a lot of both physical and mental work. Like our supervisor told us in the beginning, the process will sort of carry you along once it gets started properly. I didn’t believe her then, as it all seemed so confusing and nearly impossible, but at this point I can say she was absolutely right.

Me during the last couple of weeks.

The writer is Janita Nurmi, a student of the Degree Programme in Tourism, who is currently doing her practical training in the R&D and Education Services of TAMK. She is hoping to graduate in the fall and go on to conquer the world.