THE THESIS JOURNEY

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I have helped many students with their dissertations over my professional years. The issue that has always stuck with me is that of finding persistence. Even during my thesis many….many years ago, the concept of finding persistence has been a challenge.
 
Persistence is always assumed to be a trait that a person always walks with. It is expressed as a character that never fades and remains an unmovable wall in someone’s life. If someone is persistent, that is what they are always.
 
But the dissertation process challenges that concept. Among the late nights, the multiple reading materials, the unsupportive life partners (for the unlucky ones), and the supervisors who specialize in disappearing acts in the last days of a deadline, a student has to dig deep and find persistence.
 
You see, your thesis is not just a final requirement of your classes but a statement that all the work you did and all the classes you took could be applied to a question and reproduced in a thesis statement. It is through this statement and the application of research you can find a solution.  The thesis is meant not only to prove to the school but to yourself that you can critically and realistically think through a problem. It is this skill that the workplace requires.
 
So when you lose persistence, find it. Find it in your pride, find it in your need to improve your future, find it in your children. You will not regret it!
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Key terms: Persistence. Thesis, dissertation.