When preparing for your senior year, aside from college applications, one of the main things on the seniors’ minds is the Senior Thesis. For the entire third quarter, seniors take a deep dive into their interests in order to choose a topic that they are passionate about. Students first explore it through a primary source, whether that be a novel, movie, song, or collection of poems. The final product of this investigation takes shape in the form of a paper that is at least 15 pages.
English Department Chair Cathy Schieffelin explains that thesis has been a class in the KO curriculum for around 30 years and, aside from the change of moving things more digitally, the class has held a similar structure since it began.
Around the time of Thanksgiving and winter break, the students begin to hear more about their thesis classes so that they can start brainstorming ideas and finding primary sources that they may want to use. “Once thesis classes actually begin, I find that most students have better success when they come prepared with an idea as that can be the most challenging part,” Ms. Schieffelin said.
English teacher Bill Martino has found great joy in seeing the students’ theses take form throughout the few weeks that they have. “Watching the fog lift is my favorite part,” he said. After the first few assignments the students are given, their ideas are finally able to shine through, making the decision on what to write seems a little bit easier.
For some seniors, this has been a process on their minds throughout most of their experience at KO. Senior Eli Brandt came into the thesis class knowing that he wanted to write a paper about something that was really important to him. “I’m writing about environmentalism in literature and how that relates to the environmental movement as a whole and how it has shifted over the years,” he said. In terms of literature, Eli has found inspiration from the book “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. For quite some time he had been wanting to read this book, so this assignment allowed him to set aside time in his busy schedule to explore this complicated story.
Along with Eli, senior Quin Kearney enjoyed the freedom this paper gave her when it comes to the decision-making on what to write about. “I’m using the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower in my paper,” she said. “It has a lot of great themes, and I really enjoy how the main character expresses his love for music and how much it helps him cope with his trauma.”
Senior Avery Schiff has enjoyed the writing process but has found difficulty managing her timing. “Due to the musical being long hours and not having a lot of downtime, I’ve found it difficult to find time to just sit down and write without having distractions and other responsibilities,” she said. She hopes that over the next few weeks, she will be able to catch up on her writing with her busy schedule slowing down a bit.
Although this process can be overwhelming at times, Mr. Martino hopes that the students get a sense of accomplishment when this process is completed. “It can be a frustrating process, but at the end of the day it can be really gratifying to produce an original 15 to 25 page paper.”
At the end of this year when the seniors head off to college and start a new part of their lives, they will be able to carry the lessons learned during their thesis with them, look back at their time at KO, and see all that they accomplished.
