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Mary Shrestha

Blog: Thesis virus

I am currently suffering from a virus. Wait!! Not a viral infection, but ‘the thesis virus’, which affects every student at Wageningen, generally at the final stage of Wageningen life.

The symptoms of this virus are quite common. It starts with thoughts about a single topic that keeps occupying your mind. You walk and talk about it continuously, to your friends’ dismay. You are buried by articles regarding the issue. You seem to have free time, but actually you don’t. Some symptoms may differ with patients. Morbidity is high, but mortality is negligible.

As a normal student, I used to observe these symptoms on seniors. I used to see them reading articles and getting more confused. I thought that their life was much easier than those of us taking the courses, attending the lectures and doing assignments, group work and exams. I wondered how cool it would be to study on your own, according to your timetable; working whenever you feel like and in the active phase of your day. I still remember their words: ‘You will know when your time comes.’

I feel proud because I just got admission to this zone. There is a huge working space and for more than two periods, the head is focused on the same issue. I can’t escape thinking about the topic every morning, afternoon, midnight; even in the shower and while on the toilet. Sometimes the ideas just pop up in such awkward places. Last weekend I was stuck with ‘operationalization of the problem statement’. Unbelievably, I came with the idea at Hema while sipping coffee and had to write it down on the tissues. You should have seen the faces of my friends!!

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