We write our 60-100 page thesis the fourth semester of the program but we have to have an outline of the paper done by the end of the third semester, meaning we have to do a fuckton of reading and research to make the damn outline in addition to taking a full load of classes.
It takes me an hour to get to school and an hour to go home. I go to school every day of the week which is NOT how students' schedules are supposed to work - unless it's high school.
I'm taking a theory class. Why did I do that?!
I'm writing my thesis on Melville. Why am I doing that?!
Here's why. I have a tendency to report on the difficult, challenging and the mundane. When I was in fifth grade we all chose a historical person to do a book report. People chose Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, George Washington, etc. Who did I choose? Gregor Mendel. Was he a prolific inventor? Was he an escaped slave who later started his own newspaper? Was he the first president of the US? NO. He was a botanist. A fucking botanist who pioneered in genetics.
Melville is demanding but luckily I like his short stories - or maybe I just keep telling myself that to maintain sanity. He was pretty damn progressive and more modern for his time than I expected and getting into his head will be interesting. But please, dear reader, I digress...
