Thesis Boot Camp

First of all, the key word is CAMP. We spent a weekend at a children sleep away camp and it brought back memories of summers when I was young. 40 adults sharing one dorm/bunk. Showers/toilets a short walk away. Dining hall, lake, forest, it was an amazing experience. The thesis part was different. It wasn’t actually called bootcamp, it was called Thésez-vous? Thèse means thesis, but it’ a play on words, because it is a play on words – it sounds the same as taisez-vous! which is what our teachers would scream at us in elementary when we were making too much noise – so kind of the equivalent of shut up and write. We were also not encouraged to count the number of words, but to come up with very specific goals – primary goals and secondary goals. My primary goal was to rewrite my Statement of the Problem chapter so that it would be more coherent with my theoretical framework. My secondary goal was to complete my Methodology Chapter, now that the data collection is done. I didn’t get to that, but I succeeded with goal #1. I also got to meet a bunch of people from different universities in vastly different domains, and bond with my colleague. My favourite part was the emphasis on balance between exercise and outdoor play and writing – we would work in 3-hour spurts and then play outside. I mostly ran, and missed a lot all the swimming and canoeing because it was too cold, and because I keep drinking wine after dinner and laughing, but that’s balance too, somehow. A break from the family, from cooking, cleaning, and a chapter done. A weekend well spent!