Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to BYU as my niece Defended her Thesis. As a Grad Student, she has spent the past 6 months focused on a Research Project and documenting the benefits of using a new technology to assess language acquisition. OK, it was really more interesting than I am making it sound.
While we were waiting for one of the professors to Skype in, we were all just chatting – and the topic turned to “Defending” the Thesis. It would seem that if the student has to “Defend” then the professors must be “Assaulting” or “Attacking” the students. But then, I doubt that BYU would be OK with professors “Assaulting Students” or “Attacking Students.”
For those of you that don’t know, “Defending Your Thesis” really is kindof defending your whole project. A panel of professors gets together and asks questions and pokes holes in your theory. I’m assuming that the purpose of this is to strengthen the work so that it holds up to scrutiny when published – but it really is a rather nerve-wracking process.
Why don’t they call it “Thesis Review” or “Thesis Support” or even “Thesis Help Panel”? Wouldn’t it be great if, after the months you spend working on it, it ended with a “Thesis Hug”? OK, so maybe we don’t want professors going around hugging students, but it would sure feel less threatening than having to “Defend Your Thesis.”
After thinking about it, I guess it really is part of preparing students for real life. Over the years in my career I have had to “Defend” an idea, project, job position. I have had to clearly state perfectly plausible reasoning behind my philosophy and “Sell” it to a boss. I have had to “Fight” to have a new position created. And I have even had to “Attack” problems on many occasions.
And lately I feel like I have had to “Defend Myself” – or maybe, better said, “Stand Up for Myself.” In relationships it is just as important, maybe even more so. Keeping balance in a relationship is a delicate thing, and when things get too out of balance the whole relationship suffers – sometime irreparably.
So, be prepared to “Defend Yourself” – whether at the end of your Master’s Program, taking a fencing class, or just heading out into the real world. Know what you really want and believe, and always be prepared to “Defend Yourself” against anything and anyone that “Attacks” it. Today’s Quote: “Where there is no struggle there is no strength.” And it’s really true. My niece has a better Thesis for having “Defended” it, and I am stronger for having “Defended Myself” too.
Gena---I LOVE "Where there is no struggle there is no strength." A few years ago a young cousin complained that one of my boys (two years older than the cousin) wasn't "going easy on him" on the XBox. I explained that our policy is not that big kids go "easy" on little kids--but big kids have to teach little kids everything they know. (Because a child should KNOW when they win for real, instead of wondering if someone let them win.) Cousin was unmoved and implored me to make big kid go easy on him. For brevity, I summed it up: "Kiddo, if people went easy on you all the time, you would suck at everything." --- Cousin was still unmoved, but big kid had an epiphany... "Whoa--that's like soooo true..." :)
ReplyDelete---That said, my version would NOT look so good framed on the wall! I'll use the much classier, "Where there is no struggle, there is no strength."