An essay about Senior Projects
When talk of senior projects began this fall, I initially wasn’t thinking of doing one. I was enjoying my classes, and hesitant about dropping any. The scope of senior projects daunted me, and I was concerned my work would either overwhelm or disappoint me.
However, a chat with my advisor prompted me to reconsider this opportunity. After some thought, I realized that the limitless potential of what I could learn from my project--the knowledge and insight that I could get out of it--heavily outweighed any reservations that were holding me back. Soon, I found myself filling out my initial application with such an excitement and enthusiasm that only grew as I developed my ideas, and realized that this project offered me the unfettered opportunity to explore my greatest interests in a medium I love--writing.
“I want to do a senior project,” I wrote in my application, “because I want to explore and develop my love of writing outside of class assignments. Although I truly enjoy writing for my classes, I also want the time and opportunity to develop my skills and voice as a creative writer--unconstrained by assignment guidelines or prompts. I want the opportunity to write stories of my own in addition to the essays I write for my classes. Further, I am planning on majoring in English in college and hope to pursue a career as a writer in some fashion, so I believe this would be an invaluable opportunity for me to expand my writing experience. Writing on my own would also give me the opportunity to explore a vast array of my own ideas, thus deepening my understanding of the world in a different way than my classes do.”
As I began my senior project after spring break, however, I realized that the research component of the project was as important--if not more so--than my writing. Essentially, my project will culminate in two short stories written in a stream-of-consciousness style reminiscent of the work of the Beat Generation, that harness the ideas and energy of the 1960’s American counterculture, as well as incorporate the mythology of the American West. Thus, I have been immersed in a variety of fascinating and insightful materials that discuss these topics and themes over the past few weeks. I have read Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, a handful of Joan Didion and William Kittredge’s essays, and am currently reading Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. Additionally, I have watched a few relevant films, and have used my daily journal entries to reflect fully on what I have learned. By the end of this week, I will have finished the bulk of my research. Then, I will write my first short story next week--and my second short story the following week.
Among countless other things, I believe my senior project has taught me the importance of the process. I gain invaluable insight and knowledge from my research every day, that I know will not only contribute to my stories, but my character and beliefs. Every day, as I head to the library, I am grateful that I chose to do a senior project. And I can’t wait to start writing.
