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Thesis. The mere mention of it can send shudders down the spines of even the hardiest, most-seasoned journalism graduate students. Some have heard the thesis process is a one-way ticket to the dark side: fear leading to anger, anger leading to hate, hate leading to suffering in the form of debilitating procrastination and never, ever graduating (plus some self-loathing thrown in for good measure).

But I am Stephanie, self-proclaimed Thesis Jedi, and I am here to tell you that it doesn’t have to end that way. Don’t fear the thesis.

You see, I have the good fortune of speaking from experience, having one master’s thesis under my belt already — a “pithy” “little” 44-page/12,000 word dealie with the “catchy” title: “Revolutionary Mysticism: How Christian Mystical Traditions Can Inspire Liberation.”

So I feel justified in saying that though crafting your thesis project will be challenging and occasionally frustrating, it will also be incredibly rewarding, and even…dare I say?… fun.

Journalism MA graduate program director and thesis adviser Norma Green (Thesis Yoda to my Thesis Luke Skywalker) said the thesis is designed to be the ultimate portfolio piece, and that Columbia students have gone on to get their thesis projects published or aired: “This should be a showcase of what you come into grad school with and what you’re leaving with.”

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So. Your journalism master’s thesis will be: a 5,000 word (20 pages-ish) article OR a 30 minute broadcast script OR some magnificent multimedia concoction that you create and populate with content, the size of project to be determined by you and your adviser.

Whatever format you choose, you’ll have one overall public affairs topic to tackle, and you’ll utilize all those researching and interviewing skills you’ve been honing over the past year.

Determining the scope of your project is the next challenge. The perfect thesis topic is narrow enough that you can actually do some in-depth research in the one semester you have to create it, but not so narrow that you find yourself floundering for content ten pages in.

Norma gave us a list of thesis titles from the students who have gone before us. A bunch of them sounded intriguing. Here are just a few:

• “A Republican Tradition: Understanding the Northwest Suburbs”
• “Windy City Punk Rock and Politics: Chicago’s Longstanding Independent Rock Scene Meets City Hall”
• “Building Barriers to Curb Crime: Chicago’s Infatuation with Cul-de-Sacs”
• “A Tray-Carrying Class: Is Illinois Providing Restaurant Servers with a Decent Standard of Living?”
• “What Happened to Evergreen Plaza? How Bias, Perception, and Race Nearly Ruined Chicago’s First Enclosed Shopping Mall”

We’re now in the process of drafting project proposals to pitch to the class, which meets Tuesday afternoons almost every week of the semester mostly to give updates, get feedback, and keep us on target, but also to provide support, encouragement, and a gentle-but-swift kick in the rear, should we need it.

Our first draft (a very sloppy copy) is due October 9, so I’ll be sure to update you on my process. Until then, remember: do — because if you do not or merely try, you probably won’t graduate on time.