Prolegomena to Any Future M.A. Thesis

Dan, Jeremy, and I attended a thesis workshop today that was really a lecture delivered by the head of the institute's international program. He said: 

"Well, the thesis is worth twenty-four out of your sixty total study points for the program. That's forty percent! And if you spend forty hours each week working on your philosophical pursuits, as my colleagues and I hope you will, well, I haven't done the math but suffice it to say that we wish for you to spend a lot of time on your thesis this year."

Forty percent would mean sixteen hours each week. We have thirty-two full weeks until (ideally) our rough drafts are ready for our advisors to review. So, between the hours each week and the number of weeks, that's, well, that's five hundred and twelve (512) hours. 

Five hundred and twelve hours to produce twenty thousand words, at an average rate of six hundred and twenty five words per week, or about thirty-nine words per hour. 

I can do thirty nine words in an hour! Bring it on, thesis. Let's dance. 

Think About Your Troubles

So far, my two fellow student-travelers and I have failed to procure long-term housing, and we can only stay at this hostel for one more night (tonight). It's 9:15pm. We are emailing landlords like crazy. Now is the time to pray for us, if you are that sort of person, and would be so kind as to send an intercessory word heavenwards.

To Do

I'm traveling from Naarden/Bussum to Belgium on Monday. Things I need to accomplish upon arrival:

• Procure temporary housing
• Enroll, pay tuition
• Register at City Hall
• Open a Belgian bank account
• Procure long-term housing
• Sign up for orientation
• Do a single, normal thing, just to prove to myself that it's possible