Writing a thesis is optional in my program, but I am being encouraged to write one.

I hate writing. At least, I think I hate writing. I don't have a lot of experience writing heavy duty papers. Music ed majors get off kind of easy in that respect. So, paper writing (especially big, heavy-duty, thesis writing) is really intimidating to me.

That said, I don't want to sell myself short. I also don't want to limit my future. If my advisor really thinks I should go for it, who am I to disagree?

It is just that I'm not sure what the point would be. It is good if you want to get a doctorate, but I don't think I want to do that. I'm afraid that having a doctorate would lock me into teaching on a college level... which might be a nice way to switch things up when I get bored with grade school teaching, but I don't want to lock myself in yet. I would be interested in going into administration some day, but I don't think a masters thesis is going to matter for that. I might be wrong.

Also, I'm concerned that my personality just doesn't mesh well with the whole idea of writing a thesis. I love thinking, analysing, synthesizing, and stuff, but I do all that in my head and writing it down feels like backtracking and a waste of time. I don't have a lot of patience for research papers. 

 

So, other ENFPs have experience with thesis writing that might help me think about the prospect? Any ideas how it might be useful? Other thoughts in general?

Master Thesis = You get more money. That's how it is in Germany anyway. You get more money from the start on than if you have just a bachelor. I would say yes. But yes, i agree, the Master Thesis is mostly for bragging if you don't want to get a doctorate. However it also impresses firms. I mean, to write a Master Thesis, you must know something. If you can, then do it, i'd say.

I had to write a Thesis for my undergrad major, granted it was only about 25 pages and as a history major I was definitely used to writing long papers in general. I don't necessarily love writing, but I did find that I was quite good at it. Based on knowing you a bit here, I would say that you're more than up for the challenge if you decide it's worth the time and the effort.

Yeah, I'm feeling like I should do it just to keep my future options open. I'm just afraid that I'm going to hate my life next semester. Thanks for the thoughts/advice/encouragement!

Hi Nadette,

I too am an ENFP and completed my masters thesis of about 70 pages this past spring. I really struggled to get through it, but am happy that I did it in the end. Am happy to answer any questions you have, although I'm not sure I know about the music field and how relevant it will be in the future for your career. My thesis was on human trafficking as my degree was a MS in International Relations.

Let me know if I can help!

Oh, I bet that was interesting, dwyc! Thanks, I'm sure I will be asking you questions! For starters, how did you cope with the long, lonely hours or the paralysis of over-thinking or feeling like you didn't know enough to dare to begin?

Mine has to be about 50 pages. I want to use it to explore other things that interest me such as school reform, educational philosophy, sociology, social justice, etc. Not sure if that will actually end up working out, but I have meetings with a couple profs this week to talk about it. I'm curious to see where it will take me. It would be good to have some evidence that I am thinking in this direction, perhaps. I feel so clueless; I wish career paths were more clear.

is there any possibility to find a mate or someone to read, research and write thesis paper together either online or off-line? or some who is in your program?? some undergrad jus-to be friends?? there might be some group of PhD students online or masters who look for collaboration or writing things together on related topics as a group or co-study, just my 2 cents. maybe at the local library you might find a mate who does the same thing from other school haha, for instance. secondly i always think to follow benchmarks and true deadlines and action calendars carefully is very important in dealing with thesis or in defending it (because the last minute juggling is a true nightmare, i heard). be brutal but have fun!

PS to me i am glad career paths are not as clear, it is unknown but i got to work hard at it, have faith in it, also it is kind of a funny thing and interesting in life haha! good luck in your 50-page thesis/project!

I hate typing a sea of text - I feel lost. If it helps you, use the LaTeX Typesetter. It's time-consuming and frustrating to learn but its' structured approach keeps me on track, and its multiple back-ends renders a really impressive looking document of any type you can think of. Might be an INTJ thing lol