I Call It "The Journey To The Final..."

Thesis... Thesis... Thesis...!!!

That word always stuck in my head since 2 years ago, after finishing all courses i had to write a thesis as the requirement of my bachelor degree. It's not as easy as it seemed, 2 years for me it's just like a long journey yet amazing and exhausting. Steps were taken to start my thesis writing, here they are...

1. Outline of the thesis

for me this was the hardest part of my thesis writing, i didn't have any idea what to write as my thesis' subject at the beginning. Looked for some references from the library and internet was the way to brighten my brain to start writing. I got some ideas to write about the influence of Paramore's lyrics toward teenagers’ personality and Anomie (Suicide) in some novels. The first idea was rejected by my lecturer because it's too general and it's hard to get the theory to analyze the subject of the research. Fortunately, the second idea was triggering my lecturer to say yes, and it's approved... :)


FYI: I spent almost a year to get the approval from my lecturer, it happened because the approval given periodically (Once in 2 or 3 months). I wrote several outlines before i got the approval.

Now, it's my time to write the proposal of the research. Since I’ve got the idea everything seemed easier than before. During this time i changed the title of my research several times, from Anomie as the Cause of Lisbon Girls Suicide, Depression and Loneliness as the Cause of Lisbon Girls Suicide and The impacts Of Isolation as the Cause of Lisbon Girls' Suicide as Reflected in Jeffrey Eugenides "The Virgin Suicides". The last title finally became my official thesis' title... :)

FYI: There were two lecturers guiding me from the beginning until the end of my writing, Miss Aida (Second Supervisor) and Mrs. Eni (First Supervisor).

2. Research Proposal's Seminar
After 3 months of guiding and changing, i got the approval to hold my research proposal's seminar. Wow... I felt so happy yet so nervous to face the day. After waiting for so long now I was in the meeting room of English literature department of UNSOED where I would hold the seminar. For about 1.5 hours i spent to present my research proposal, and again i needed to change and revise several part of it. But it's ok... :)


FYI: There was an additional examiner besides the two of my supervisor; he's Mr. Rizky (The head of English literature).

3. A Great Escape

this was one of the most amazing time in my life, I went to Australia for about 5 month as the delegation of Central Java Province along with other 17 delegations... Yeah, we are AIYEPers from Indonesia, we always sang that part together when we had culture performances... :)


*further stories of my journey to the down under a.k.a Australia will be uploaded next...: p

4. Face the truth; I’m back to the reality... THESIS is awaiting

This part was the most shocking moment for me, after joining "the dream" program for 5 months it's felt like i didn't want to go back to the reality as the last semester student... :p

I started to think again about what i had to do about my thesis that has been left alone for so long... Yes, i had to make it true and finished what i had started.

I tried to open my thesis files and started to write again... Wow, i didn't any revision yet... :p. OK, i tried to focus with what i had to write and revise, i searched some articles again to add the information in my thesis. This searching happened for 2 weeks, after that i convinced my self to submit my revised thesis to my second supervisor, Miss Aida.

FYI: Miss Aida text me once and said that she won't be able to guide me at June and all the guidance processes will be started again at the beginning of July...

Those SMS made me feel down at the moment, it's seemed not fair for me while the other students could have guidance regularly... But, i had to think positively that i have much time to revise my thesis and make it better... :)

What happened next was making me so happy, by the end of June i finished chapter 1, 2 and 3. it means that it was the time for me to write chapter 4 and 5. Again, i convinced myself to finish what i started. I heard a story from my friend that she did chapter 4 only in a night, it made feel so envy. "Come on Ali... you can do that", the sound of my heart was just like that.

It took 2 weeks for me to finish my chapter 4 and 5, which was the best that i could give. I wrote in the morning, afternoon and in the evening until midnight, i stopped writing when my body told me to stop because of tired of working.

FYI: The guidance process in my first supervisor, Mrs. Eni happened for 1 month. I felt the ups and downs during the process, ups when there were not much to be revised and downs when i hardly met with her because of her full schedule.

5. THESIS examination

At August 9 and 11 2011 i held my thesis examination; i held it twice because Miss Aida still in Jogjakarta to finished her s2 study. My feeling at that time was so blended, i prepared all those stuffs to make my examination ran well.

Purwokerto, August 9 2011... I came to my campus a half hour earlier to prepare myself and other stuffs, my heart beat so fast like roller-coaster when the time showed in 1 pm. Mr. Rizky was late and i started my examination at 1.15 pm. I spent 15 minutes to explain all the chapters in my thesis and 45 minutes to the questions and answers. Over all, my examination was running so well and i could answer all the questions except my speaking that turned so badly. I didn't know why my speaking was so bad, maybe it was because I really nervous. What made me feel so happy was the statement from Mrs. Eni, she said that my thesis was one of the best analyses... :)

Jogjakarta, August 11 2011...

Together with Yasir and Utut I went to Jogjakarta, we went very early in the morning at 3 am. The trip took 6 hours from Cilacap to Jogjakarta, during the trip we studied again about what we were going to present in front of Miss Aida. We arrived in UGM Jogjakarta at 9 am, we directly searched the place that Miss Aida already texted to Yasir. A half an hour we walked around UGM’s campus and finally found the place. There, there was Nina is awaiting for the examination too. At 9.30 am Miss Aida came and she invited us to go to the examination room, she also made some light conversations before the examination to get us more relax.

Yasir was the first person to present his presentation, Nina was the second, I was the third and Utut was the last one.

Yasir and Nina were successfully delivering their presentation, now it’s time for me to “rock the stage”. What stuck in my head at that time was I had to improve my speaking, I really didn’t want to fall down in the same damn hole… :p. Thank to Alloh for the easiness I experienced, I delivered my presentation so smooth and clear and I also clearly answered all the questions from Miss Aida… J

*FYI: no time for us observing the beauty and unique of Jogjakarta after the examination, we came home at 1 pm and arrived in Purwokerto at 5 pm… what a tiring day, huh?!

6. Comprehension

On Tuesday, August 16 2011 Miss Eni gave me the result of my thesis examination after several days of waiting. Again, my heart beat so fast before receiving the result. I came to the D3 campus building at 7.30 am while the study process started at 8 am. Another thank to Alloh, I got A for my thesis examination… :)

Well, this not over yet. I had to confirm to Mr. Rizki as the head of English literature department to get the information about when I would held the comprehension and who were lecturers that would be my examiners. Then, he texted me that my comprehension would be held on Thursday, August 18 2011. Mr. Wawan, Miss. Asrofin and Mrs. Nana were my examiners. They gave me information what should I learned generally, Mr. Wawan asked me to learn Linguistic, Miss. Asrofin was Translation and Mrs. Nana was Literature with American study as the special request.

Thursday, August 18 2011… I came to the examination room earlier before the examiners coming, I studied all the subjects in 2 days and nights. It’s time for me to rock the stage again, Mrs. Nana was the first examiner asked me about literature and American study, all the questions were briefly answered by me. Then, Miss Asrofin gave me several question about translation, I could answer all the question well. Now it’s time for Mr. Wawan to ask me questions about Linguistic and grammar, I didn’t know why I hardly answered several question and I only smile at him. I felt so blame for that unanswered question, I really sorry for that… :(

An hour past, they asked me to leave the room in order they could have a discussion about my result. Outside the room my heart beat so fast again and again, I thought that I will get low mark for my examination. Then, I heard a voice called me to enter the room. All the examiners have already made the result, they told me that I had to hold another examination because my bad explanation about Linguistic and Grammar. But, at the end they gave me the result. I got B for my examination, it’s unbelievable. I thought I would get C or D, but it’s B… :)

FYI: Comprehension was the peak of my struggle in English literature for these 6 years, I cried for that… I swear I cried, that was for my parents and my future… Thank to Alloh :)