Yesterday I handed in my thesis. I am so relieved to be completely done with it. I will have to wait till the summer to find out my grade, but whatever happens, it’s out of my hands. Which means I can stop worrying and focus on what lies ahead. But of course this huge accomplishment didn’t go down without some drama.
Monday I took my thesis to the copy shop on a memory stick to have it printed and bound. They told me it would be ready the next morning. I dropped off the books I had used for my thesis at the university library in town and then went to the next town over to drop off a few more books at the library there. I came back to town and was waiting for my bus to go home at the train station when all of a sudden a thought popped in my head.
“Why is my works cited section chapter #7?” I went through all of my chapters in my head and sure enough there were only five chapters and then the works cited section. And for some reason I had a picture in my mind of it being chapter #7. I looked up the file on my iPhone (thank God for technology, right?) and sure enough, it was (wrongly) #7. I called the copy shop right away but they told me my thesis was already bound. Well there was no way I could hand in a thesis that just skipped a chapter number (a typo, fine, but this was too embarrassing and would make me look careless), so I asked if they could replace a page. They told me that it would be possible but they would have to re-bind the thesis. I took the bus to get back to the copy shop and I looked through the file again just in case I mis-numbered another chapter. And sure enough? I did. You know, I went through every single chapter title when I proof-read it but I only paid attention to the actual titles, not the chapter numbers.
At that point I just started crying. All the pressure was getting to me, and now this? It was so awkward to be crying in a busy copy shop, but I didn’t really care at that point. I knew they could fix that mistake and you have no idea how glad I was I realized it before handing it in but why couldn’t that damn thought have popped in my head a little earlier? And why did they have to bind my thesis right away after I dropped it off when it wouldn’t be ready till the next day anyway?
In the end I was able to bargain with them and “only” paid $12 to have them replace the two pages in each of the four copies, but I was so mad at myself for not checking those chapter numbers. It would have cost me an extra minute or two instead of $12 had I done it a day earlier. The good thing is I did find the mistakes and they were fixed. Chances are, there are more, because that thesis is 80 pages and it’s just likely. Heck, I even found some mistakes in the secondary literature I used and that was published, and sold in bookstores! I just hope it’s nothing as obvious and embarrassing as this.
And usually I would say those $12 went to my learning the hard way to check chapter numbers, except there will not be another time that I can make use of that lesson. I was really really upset yesterday (and I could still kick myself for it) and instead of being happy, I spent a lot of time crying instead but you know what? Now that’s all in the past, and I AM JUST HAPPY TO BE DONE!
(I will also not take another look at my thesis because I have no doubt that as soon as I do I will find another mistake.)
Hey, no more crying over spilled milk, ok? Now it’s time to relax and party and get these thoughts out of your head! You can be so proud of yourself!
.-= Antje´s last blog post: Protected: UPDATE 1 =-.
I agree with Antje. It’s all done and turned in. Now it’s time to relax. And good point with not looking at your thesis anymore. I never did and I am glad I didn’t because I am sure there are a bunch of little mistakes in there.
.-= Stefanie´s last blog post: When you realize you miss someone. =-.
I found about 10 typos in my thesis after handing it in and freaked out about it. I still had a 1.0, so nothing to worry about. :)
A few tears are just par for the course when you’re dealing with something you’re so invested in. And a few errors are to be expected when you’ve been so completely immersed in something.
When I was in grad school, I opted to do one huge project for one of my classes instead of three smaller ones. It was just good business, I thought, because the total page length was less for the one huge project, plus I would only have to come up with one topic. But it was a little nerve-wracking having 100% of my grade hinge on one project. Anyway, three weeks before the course ended, the instructor’s mother passed away unexpectedly. He was from England, so he had to leave the country and our last three weeks of class were canceled. I was supposed to mail in my project instead, and I included a sympathy card.
As the binder slipped out of my hand and into the mailbox, I noticed a sign on the box saying that new postal service regulations dictated that any mail over 16oz had to go in person to a post office, and anything over 16oz left in the mailbox would be destroyed. I had just weighed it on my office postal scale so I could make sure I had enough postage and it was WAY over 16oz. I didn’t know what to do — I had backups, but it was over 100 pages and would have taken me hours to print, collate, and put everything together again… plus, then he might have TWO copies? Should I put a card in with the second copy? Should I wait a few days (and risk being late)? AH. I definitely cried over this seemingly horrific accident.
In the end, I emailed him after a week and asked if he’d gotten it. He didn’t respond. I didn’t want to pester him, since he was obviously dealing with much more important family issues, but I was FREAKING OUT. The day I was going to mail the other copy he emailed me and said he had it, and I got an A+. For reals. Happy ending!
.-= Operation Pink Herring´s last blog post: Acciversary =-.
$12 and a few tears (and a few thousand hours of everything else) sound like a deal to get a weighty thesis off your hands. Congrats chica, I’m so happy for you!
(also–have been catching up reading…please excuse the barrage of comments)
xox