Long Story Short
Take this six-word memoir of Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt: “The miserable childhood leads to royalties.” Then there’s the Amherst geology major who wrote a thesis on local land formations. Their “lol my thesis” summary? “Rocks that are next to each other in Massachusetts now were also next to each other 400 million years ago.” An Amherst political science major did a thesis on party system institutionalization. Their truncation: “Never want to type ‘institutionalization’ again.”
So, think back on your toughest academic project from your senior year at Amherst, whether it’s a thesis, research paper, lab or performance—whatever academic bear you wrestled with most—and crunch it down to a one-sentence description. Along with your submission, please include the project’s original title (if you remember it). We know senior year may feel like a long time ago—but bring us up short.
Your Challenge
Write a one-sentence summary of your toughest senior academic project—the shorter the better. Send it to magazine@amherst.edu or Amherst magazine, Box 5000, Amherst MA 01002. The magazine editors will choose a winning submission and two runners-up to publish in the next issue. The winner will also receive an Amherst T-shirt.
Illustration by Marc Rosenthal
