Originally posted on Medium in 2022 June
Whenever a student is about to graduate, they are expected to showcase their expertise and depth of knowledge in a specific topic. For most students, it’s the last step before entering the job market, thus choosing a gainful subject is highly important. To make the most of this final assignment, I’ll provide 3 tips based on my — and a couple of other students’ — experiences. After each point, I’ll describe how I managed to accomplish the previous tip.
First of all, there is no one size fits all approach. What worked for me, might be of little use to you. Generally, having an issue that I’m passionate about is everything to me. Almost all of my university assignments revolved around a practical use case, hence I put a great emphasis on finding a problem that I truly care about. So, in case you read further, please be mindful of this!
Find a topic you deeply care about
Daniel Pink, the author of Drive, argues that autonomy is one of the main pillars of employee satisfaction. Spending time on something we love and have strong connections to feels similar to when little kids play with their best friends: they lose track of time and all they want to do is continue. Are students any different? Of course. But if there is no avoidance of getting it done, they will certainly aim for something close to their heart, where at least the process is enjoyable.
Most students do realize this. If you have difficulty deciding on your subject, take a step back and think about yourself. Just you. What is it that you do in your free time? What makes you argue as if there is no tomorrow? If you managed to think of at least a single area of life, chances are, there is a way to connect it to your studies. Usually, this doesn’t happen overnight, so take your time before you finalize your decision.
My experience: I love sports and it has always been an essential part of my life, but I also love data and the influence we can have by combining the two. I’ve been playing chess since I was 8, and my love for the game has never disappeared. After high school, I couldn’t spend the same amount of time on the game as before, so I decided to get back to it by picking a topic related to chess.
Learn something new
Even our most beloved free time activities lose their appeal after some time, so your thesis won’t be any different. In order to get through this rough patch, you need to have another asset that you can rely on. As an IT student, you’ll most probably develop something, using (many) technologies. These could be tools you have heard about, a framework your professor has advised you to utilize, or an upcoming programming language that is getting a lot of love on Reddit. Regardless, some aspects of the implementation of your thesis are in a green zone: you do whatever you want to do (within certain boundaries). Make use of this and integrate the most appealing thing for you into the project. In case you want to maximize your further career options, take a look at LinkedIn, and see what is required for the positions you like.
My experience: At the start of the semester I’ve already been working around data for about 8 months at a small company, thus I was familiar with the available tools in the data ecosystem. Looking through a couple of job posts I realized that some technologies appear more often than others, so I decided to store them in my memory in case I have the opportunity to utilize them during the project. In the end, I used mostly new technologies, which gave me something to look forward to each time I wanted to proceed with my work.
Have a tutor from who you can learn
Now that you have identified all aspects that are dependent on you, we have to address the elephant in the room: this is not a personal project. Your university has some strict criteria that you must meet and your tutor is picky about the topics he invests time into. You have your ideas, they have their beliefs, and these two don’t always match well, but that’s life.
Luckily, most universities have many professors providing guidance for graduating students, so even if your first option doesn’t quite work out, you shouldn’t give up. Generally, teachers support students who come up with their own ideas, so finding a match shouldn’t be a big hassle.
The previously mentioned Daniel Pink book lists mastery as another important aspect that drives our motivation. We feel more satisfied if we can immerse ourselves in the topic and deepen our understanding along the way. An easy way to achieve this is to pick a teacher who is a specialist in the field and has a wealth of knowledge. However, don’t neglect how you gel with the person, as you will have a lot of meetings together!
My experience: Okay, to be honest, here I just got lucky. Long story short, I met my tutor during an interview for an internship and we kept in touch after that. When the time came, I asked about his opinion and he supported my idea, so we started consulting. We got along really well and I learned a tremendous amount, not just technically, for which I’m really grateful.
Conclusion
I believe that by following the steps mentioned above, you set yourself up for success to write a superb thesis. In any case, you will have to work hard to get through the tougher days, but this list will hopefully reduce the amount of time it happens. Now go back to ideating, and rock it! Good luck!