Senior Thesis

The senior thesis could be one of the busiest times for a senior at K-O. What the senior thesis is defined as is a “project undertaken in the third quarter to pursue an author or idea they specifically enjoy” said Margaret Kasprak. Every senior is required to write one, and KO dedicates a class specifically for it. The project is not designed to be stressful, but it depending on the person, it could be one of the most stressful times on someone’s life.

Some seniors really put in the time and effort needed to write a good thesis, while others might not. The stress level also depends on the type of person. Senior Matt Mulkern said, “I feel a lot of stress, it feels like there’s a cloud over my head constantly, cloud being the thesis.”

Other seniors said they had little to no stress at all. “I don’t feel a lot of stress because Mr. Monroe has been helping to us by breaking it down into little pieces to make it easier” said Michele Ruffee.

The seniors aren’t the only ones feeling stress though; this can also be a stressful process for the teacher’s as well. Mrs. Kasprak said, “The most stressful is responding to a lot of rough drafts at one time. It’s also hard to read long papers.”

The process for this paper is pretty straightforward. Just like most other papers, there’s a rough draft, which is then edited to make a “flawless” final draft. The rough draft is due around week six or seven, and the final draft is due at the end of week eight.

Most teachers don’t dim down on work, especially the AP courses since those are made to be very intense. “The amount of work demanded for thesis is hard to fit in with other classes,” said Matt. However, some teachers are very flexible with the amount of work they give and will push assignments back a few days to accommodate the needs for the seniors.

Handing in the thesis late leads to a deduction of the grade, and not handing in the thesis at all leads to failure to graduate. Most seniors said the deadlines seemed fair and they weren’t worried in handing it in late. “Its just there to make sure seniors don’t slack off. It’s just a long paper,” said senior Sam Mckeown.