Writing an honors thesis can be an incredibly satisfying way to culminate your major and present your research to the campus community. When I began working on my honors thesis, I found that I had few people to reach out to when I had questions or just needed a word of support. The whole process was shrouded in mystery. The Honors Program website details the exact steps of proposing, writing, and defending a thesis, but I wanted to give a few words of advice as someone who recently completed the process.
Start Thinking about Your Project Early!
For me, one of the toughest parts about writing a thesis was selecting a topic. Many students build off of a research paper or project that they worked on in a class, and this gives you a great jumping off place for your research. This also helps with the process of picking your advisor and second reader, as it helps to work with professors whose research interests align with your own. That being said, be sure to select a topic that you feel really passionately about. This may seem self explanatory, but before you commit a year to working on a project, make sure you are really interested in it.
Read Past Honors Theses
Bucknell’s Digital Commons includes hundreds of past honors theses, as well as many publications written by professors. You can browse by class year, subject area, or major to see lots of examples of work prior students completed. The Digital Commons can be a great source of inspiration if you want to see the type of work that students produce, but it is also helpful to consult to better understand the style, structure, and format of a thesis in your academic discipline.
Be Honest with Yourself about Time Management
An honors thesis is the ultimate test of your time management skills. While your advisor serves as a resource and guides you through the process, it is up to you to set your own schedule and balance this longer term project with all of your weekly assignments, extracurriculars, and responsibilities. In many majors, your thesis will take the place of a class, such as your culminating experience for your major, and you will have a course credit for your thesis each semester. Some students also find it helpful to underload and only take two additional classes to dedicate more time to the project. I found it incredibly helpful to treat my thesis as a class and set large chunks of time each week to work on it. It can also be beneficial to create a syllabus or long term plan to keep yourself on track. This is also where your adviser can be very helpful as they may have suggestions for your project calendar based on past honors theses that they oversaw.
Edit, Edit, Edit!
Do not underestimate the editing process! Depending on your major, the writing style may be very different from anything you have written in previous classes. As someone who loves to write long sentences with lots of clauses and appositives, I found that my usual style was not persuasive in such a long paper. I rewrote every paragraph of my thesis through the revision process, and every time it became stronger and more compelling. Try to give yourself as much time to edit as possible — you will be thanking yourself come March as the due date is creeping up on you!
Writing an honors thesis can be an exciting and overwhelming endeavor, but more than anything it has been the most satisfying academic experience I could have ever imagined. After spending the better part of a year working on a project, you get to present your work to your professors, friends, and family. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do an honors thesis and would encourage anyone who is curious about the process to take that leap of faith!