Writing Time

TigerBlog went to a college that didn't require a senior thesis, so he has no idea what the feeling is like for a Princeton senior who has just handed one in.

For the last few decades, of course, he has seen the joy that these seniors exude — including from his own daughter — once the task is finished. It's a joyfulness at both the completion of such an all-consuming task and a realization that they have navigated the last big hurdle to their Princeton degree.

This time of year is "hand in your thesis" time. The due date is not like Dean's Day, where everything across the University is due at the same time. In the case of a senior thesis, the date it needs to be handed in is determined by the department, which is why some seniors are now literally basking in the sunshine while others are figuratively under a dark cloud.

Kate Mulham and Alex Slusher, both lacrosse players, are two of the ones in the sun. They both had just handed in their theses within hours of when they spoke with TB for this week's Princeton Laxcast (you can listen HERE), and again, the sense of relief was obvious.

TigerBlog really liked what Slusher said about the whole thesis experience, how it's a chance to research and write about an area that otherwise might not have presented itself within the requirements of a Princeton major. Like anyone else, TB presumes, Slusher also mentioned 

Claire Donovan of the field hockey team also handed in her thesis this week. As many Princeton students will do these days, she posted about it on social media. Included in her post was her dedication page:

Donovan lost both her father, a former Tiger men's lacrosse player, and her brother within a span of a few months during her junior year at Princeton. TB wrote about the Donovan's HERE this past fall, when Claire was helping the team to an undefeated Ivy League season. 

If you read the story before, or if you just checked it out, the dedication comes a bit more into focus. 

TigerBlog checked in with someone else yesterday who is still working on her thesis. That would be Josephine de La Bruyere, a history major who is writing her thesis on European natural history and explorers from 1500-1700.

In her case, it's due this coming Tuesday. TB's last message to her was "imagine how good you'll feel in a week."

If her last name is familiar, that's because she is the sister of former Princeton track and field standout Emily de La Bruyere. Josephine, in her own words, "didn't the fast genes."

What Josephine did get was the writing gene. She's written for a few outlets, including the Daily Princetonian. 

TigerBlog stumbled onto the story she wrote for Deadspin on, of all subjects, Princeton wrestling coach Chris Ayres and the job he's done rebuilding the program. You can read the story HERE.

It's a story that is really well written. Here's a sample of something she wrote immediately after talking about the growth of girls in the sport:

Still — wrestling championships are the rare event at which women walk right into their restroom, and the men’s line stretches out the door.

That's quick and subtle, but it does such a great job of making the point she's trying to make, which is that the overwhelming majority of those who compete in and watch wrestling are men. And she does it in a way that paints a visual in your mind that really hammers that home. 

Here's something else:

Ayres, beaming, leaned against a corner wall. “Can you imagine this party if we hadn’t got a champ? With these frickin’ balloons? Holy Christ. But we believe. We buy the balloons. In this party, in this program. I just believe.”

The reader can completely picture this. Josephine has just finished writing about the party after Patrick Glory won his NCAA championship. She didn't need to overstate anything about Ayres. She threw in "beaming" to capture his joy, but she lets the quote, which is perfect, stand on its own.

Anyway, it's a great story. Is there writing in your future, TB asked her? It turns out that there will be.

There's writing in her present too. There's still work to be done on the senior thesis, and then there is the joy that handing it in will bring.