I’ve been working on my thesis for almost six months now, writing proposals and doing as much research as possible, all the time looking forward to the day when I would get my carrel and truly be able to begin the serious work in earnest. What I did not know was that renovations in SciLi (about which students had not been informed before hand) have severely diminished the amount of carrels available to seniors this year. Unfortunately, the fates were not smiling upon me during the lottery and I am currently around thirtieth on the waiting list of about seventy for a carrel.
It’s not looking good. So what is a thesis writer to do? I can’t work in my room because my bed is much too comfy and my housemates too entertaining. Basically, if I want to get anything done, I need a work space that is not also my living space. I have about 40,000 books and cannot carry them all with me every time I want to go to a computer lab or the library to get work done. It simply isn’t fair that some students are granted work spaces (some fantastic, some really crappy), while others get nothing at all but an apologetic smile from the library staff. Thesis writers deserve better. Wesleyan has an obligation to provide all of us with the tools we need to carry out projects to the fullest. Every thesis writer has the right to a space conducive to serious work, and it is incumbent upon the powers that be to provide us with this space. If I don’t get a work space soon, I fear the only thing I’ll be doing on April 12th is hanging out with my housemates and taking another nap.
Leave a Reply