THE LAST time I entered the 7-11 store on Dapitan to get a slurpee and replenishments for my bathroom cabinet, I overheard two guys talking about what to get their girlfriends. In 7-11? Well, they do call it a convenience store, and sure enough, stacked on a shelf next to the personal accessories section were red heart-shaped balloons and faux flowers. Apparently, they were not good enough—hence the argument.
It is still February, folks, and everyone’s still doing Valentine shopping. But for some of us, there are some things to worry more about than being dateless before March, and that is—scary music from The Ring please—being thesis-less before finals, or whenever the deadline is.
My classmates and I have been cracking our heads and exhausting the proverbial night lamp lately just to get this important requirement done, rushing to the library to settle accounts on overdue books or crazily typing into our computers until the letters have worn off. Even the jokes at this time of the year are never without allusions to these extremely multi-paged brain stoppers.
Many other students out there are going through the same drill, especially the graduating. Everywhere, I hear of advisers chasing advisees and vice versa. I have even given directions to several of either party as to where to hunt their quarry.
The funny thing is, just as when you are in a hurry to get the thesis over and done with, a lot of things get in the way (well, not really; they are requirements, too) such as those oral reports on War and Peace and Carl Roger’s theory of personality, and countless other papers and tests.
Blessed are they who are not loaded with academic necessities, for theirs is the bliss of sitting around the field drinking chocolate shakes or in movie theaters indulging themselves in date heaven.
But not to worry, fellow pilgrims on the tortuous road to graduation. Blessed are we, too. At least we finish sooner, then it will be our turn to watch the hapless undergrads cringe as they hurdle their final examinations. If we don’t die along the way, that is.
Granting we won’t, after everything is over, all we have to worry about next is where and how to find the perfect employment that will not waste what we have stuffed into our heads for the past 14 or so years. Or where and how to find the perfect school for our next academic endeavors. Lucky us, eh?
First things first, however. And first things include finishing the dreaded thesis and submitting it after numerous revisions. For most, first things include defending it before a ruthless panel of inquisitors out for blood, or at least arguments that would prove your work valid, and not a total waste of their time, not to mention yours.
Let’s face it. We won’t get to eat unless we wash our hands. We won’t get the gold unless we dig. You get my drift.
I will finish my thesis. And perhaps, two weeks and 40 or so more pages later, I might take that offer to relax, see a movie, get a celebratory chocolate shake. Better yet, I might go to sleep.
