“If not me, then who?” Have faith in my unique perspective and channel it into my project: it’s the best (and sometimes, the only) way for it to be alive and compelling. There are at least a dozen other people who can code an intricate program or make a generative game, but I should be the only one—with my unique experiences, whims, and obsessions—who can bring my thesis to life.

Thesis is for better self-articulation, not employability. I respect people who know what they want, and envision thesis as a future portfolio piece catered to the eyes of potential employers, but that’s not me. It’s an unprecedented luxury to be able to dedicate a whole year to something I’m passionate about. It’s even more precious to have absolute creative freedom, unadulterated by capitalistic demands or pressures. To me, it seems awfully wasteful to not use this opportunity to find clarity on what is and how I want to sustain my creative practice. Better self-articulation will always remain my strongest motivation behind making my thesis.

Resist temptation. It’s normal to feel a healthy amount of envy towards other people’s projects, even my own unrealized ideas. Despite the appeal of starting from scratch or stretching myself in a million directions, I need to be honest with myself: I have neither the capacity nor the talent to hesitate, meander, or begin again. Marry to an idea early, water it, watch it grow—it might become more than what I’ve ever dreamed of.

Be consistent. A year is definitely a substantial amount of time for a project. However, it’s also easy to keep indulging in the illusion that “I still have so much time left”, until that’s not true anymore. How many people do I know who rushed their thesis in the last three months? Making a thesis is indeed a time-based endeavor; a journey that should be navigated steadily. A rule of thumb: spending half an hour every day on research, tinkering, mulling over ideas is always better than cramming a prototype in one week.

Have fun! Growing pains, challenging obstacles… sure. Suffering, mental agony? I have outgrown them. Making a thesis should be a mostly fulfilling and fun experience, and if that’s not true, I need to either lighten up or make perceptive changes.

Towards resource-sharing & against gatekeeping. Many of us are amateurs when it comes to building a creative practice, while even more of us carry ambitions of having our work recognized and celebrated, ideally outside of school too. A good strategy to bridge this gap is resource-sharing. Stumbled upon an artwork that reminded me of someone? I’ll forward it to them. Read an essay that can help someone lay a stronger theoretical foundation? I’ll share it with them. Encountered an opportunity that can help someone secure more funds or resources? I’ll encourage them to apply. We form an ecosystem and start to thrive when we care for each other and each other’s work with love and generosity—and that’s how we create amazing thesis projects: beyond individually, as a community.

Be each other’s expert and teacher. We come from diverse backgrounds, often already specialists in the fields we worked in. A sophisticated thesis project, on the other hand, is most often expansive and relies on knowledge and proficiency beyond our own. Trading expertise can be a sweet and generative way of growing our projects together, while understanding each other more as individuals and artists.

Celebrate milestones together. The end of thesis week should not be the only occasion for relaxation and conviviality; smaller steps—commitment to an idea, first prototype, alumni critiques…—deserve attention and joy too. Celebrate milestones together and often, be open enough to let these moments carry us forward.

Strive for care and maintenance. I still daydream about my Chinese blog or game logs from the 2000s sometimes, wondering how or when they vanished into the shadows of the Internet’s past, yearning for their nostalgic power as time capsules. Websites decay and become abandoned; programs outgrow technology stacks they were built on; hardware breaks and ages… It’s nearly impossible to preserve a technology-based project forever, but for as long as maintenance is viable, I will tend to my thesis and mend the cracks: a renewal of spirit and possibilities.

Let my thesis be witnessed, remembered, shared. On the Internet, in other people’s minds, in archives… My thesis can live in many different environments, and can certainly outlive the period designated for thesis development, or even its own lifespan. I will document and share my work. Share on as many platforms as possible. Wait for people to experience, feel, and find resonance. Olia Lialina’s personal website, with its glittery ambience and handmade aesthetics reminiscent of the web 1.0 era, is still being visited and admired by young people and seasoned surfers alike. My thesis can inspire people decades down the road too, and that’s perhaps the most special and meaningful approach towards longevity.