Four Sources of Fear in Writing a Thesis

There are, at least, 5 words I heard very frequently these past few months.

Those involved; title, research question, theories, hypothesis, and revisions.

Either it was in form of conversation, question or complaint, people in my surrounding are heavily into these words.

As you may have guessed, these people (including me, of course) are talking about how to write dozens of pages of academic analysis called thesis. Doesn't sound so fun, does it?

For some, this final "level" of college can be an ultimate burden. An ultimate yet frightening burden.

But what's really frightening about it? Isn't it supposed to be just like regular stuffs that college student do as daily assignments? Well, technically yes. Except for the fact that this time the price at stake is a solid degree instead of just a score.

More on that, I also observe that there are several other things that make thesis writing seems like a sweatshop job. Let's take a look at these four sources of fear in writing a thesis;

• Feeling Over Anxious with your Own Work

We can't deny that writing a thesis requires us to use some rather rigid and complex steps. Although we must admit if that's just basically the nature of academic writing.

Some of us do not really see this as a problem. All of those things can actually be studied from the provided litelatures as well as the academic process that has been passed in the previous years of college. 

Sometimes, what people worry about is actually they themselves. 

Having a sufficient knowledge about thesis writing can be a problem when we cannot manage that properly.

In some cases where the said knowledge cannot be properly managed, some people turn out to have the tendency to over criticize their own works. Seems nothing wrong with that? No, it is wrong at some levels.

The fear of having flaws in our own works is an endless circle. We will always find it difficult to make some progress as we keep thinking that everything we have made is imperfect. In a good case, it can only leave us with a demotivation side effect that lasts for some time. But, in an extreme case, it can make us think that writing a thesis is no longer necessary as we think that we can't never get rid of the flaws in our works.

Seriously, just do it!

It is better to allocate the time to comprehend more on the topic that you are about to write. We can always consult our works to the supervisors. Being critical is good, but maybe not in an excessive level. Just let them (the supervisors) criticize our works and try to consider their advises in writing it.

• Lack of Fundamental Knowledge and Logic

As the opposite to the previous one. Having lack of knowledge about thesis writting is also a serious problem.

One's hard work in writing a thesis can be potentially useless when it is not followed by a sufficient knowledge about the activity itself.

As stated, this problem can always be encountered by reading and asking people with some experiences in the related activities.

Please note that using logic is very crucial in writing a thesis. There are some people who have written pages of it, but have no clue at all why those words are in their papers...which is ironic.

So, it's always better to make some flow of logic before we start, as in why we propose that research question, hypothesis, et cetera. Because, believe me, rewriting it from the beginning has never been fun. 

• Idealism is still Numero Uno

As undergraduate students, or (to be drammatic) as the highly motivated youths, we always want to make something out of the ordinary. 

That's very understanable for some reasons. But have you considered the consequences of being so in writing a thesis? Being idealist is sometimes very dangerous if you have a certain time table to complete.

Indeed, some unique and sexy topics might be very tempting to be written as our thesis. But remember the following things;

1. When all you use as the method is library research, do consider the availability of the related literature. Otherwise, wait 10 to 20 years until they are available.
2. When your target is simply just to graduate as soon as possible, picking the frequently used topics is not a wrong thing to do, but try to pick another perspective to make it new.

• Peer Pressure

Demotivation can also appear as we see some accomplishments done by others.

It is not that we are jealous with them, but because we are getting more and more anxios of getting left behind by the peers.

This kind of condition can leave us with two possibilities; whether we are getting motivated or severely desperate. 

Desperation can also shift our focus to something else that may seem more promising than earning an academic degree. I never say that's wrong. But just remember that thesis writing is basically the one last thing that can get you that after years of process. So, one for the road!

Also, always keep in mind that people are working in different paces. Some are relatively fast, some are not. That doesn't really matter as long as we keep going. 

At least, those are what I've got during the process of writing from the chapter one up until this point. I hope it helps you guys who are still encountering the similar problems.