Journal for eholt

Seniors have the time honored tradition of complaining endlessly about their thesis. I'm not sure what the plural of thesis is, but I know that we seniors have made it a verb:
thesis. verb. The act of shutting oneself in a study room in the Hatfield Library and staring at the blinking cursor of a Microsoft Word document while downing endless cups of Bistro coffee and cookies. Usage: Many seniors were seen thesizing in the large windows of the library while underclassmen were playing Ultimate Frisbee in the late March sunshine.
I'm not bitter, I promise. I do want to clothesline some of those smiling frisbee players with my laptop cord, though.

The thesis is a final paper that all students complete within their major. The faculty of the department decide on what loops students must jump through in order to complete it. For example, the language departments make seniors jump through hula hoops: 25 pages on whatever subject you want written in one semester. The Politics department requires its seniors to leap through hoops lit on fire. 60 pages in one semester that three members of the faculty tear apart at the end. The Environmental Science department just puts its seniors in the guillotine with a year long thesis requiring original fieldwork and research with a 60 page paper and presentation where the entire faculty essentially chucks intellectual grenades at all you've built for the past year. Thankfully, I went with the international studies major, which is somewhere between the hula hoop and fire rings. I have a couple of Environmental Science major friends who are currently thinking of drowning themselves in the cute little millstream that runs through campus, though.
Here is another little definition for you:
Procrastinate. verb. to defer action; delay.
I have to stop doing that now and actually finish up a page or two tonight so that I can join the frisbee players tomorrow.

Posted by Elizabeth E Holt at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Most Willamette students do the Take A Break (see Erik Autrey's blog) program, some other kind of service or a job for Spring Break. As a senior, I was selfish and decided to have the Hollywood Spring Break experience, complete with the motto: Go Big or Go Home.
We went big, alright.
Three of my best friends from freshman year and I road tripped down to Las Vegas and stopped EVERYWHERE along the way. 6 states in 8 days. We went bouldering in Bishop, California. We tasted wine in Napa and ended up buying a case which we finished by the end of the trip. We visited friends at Smith Rock and climbed. We went to Salt Lake City to visit some alumnis of Willamette. We hiked all over Zion Canyon and camped the entire trip. Finally, we got to Vegas. In Vegas we... well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? But I'll tell you that it may have involved some Chippendale's Male Dance Review. The trip was a huge success. More than a week in the car together and did not fight once. Every time there was tension we talked it out. Thanks for all the conflict resolution training, Willamette!
Anyway, the point is that I had an amazing final Spring break with a group of women I am super tight with. We all met in the same dorm our freshman year and even though we are all in to totally different things-- one manages the Willamette Bike shop, another is a manager of the on-campus student run cafe, another on the board of trustees and sustainability council, and then there is dorky me-- we have managed to stay friends through it all. The entire time we stayed at the houses of other Willamette students and alums. I think that really shows what a tight community that this school builds.
It's scary to think that my time here is ending but at least I was allowed one last romp with my amazing friends. We went big. Then we went home.

Posted by Elizabeth E Holt at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)