Thoughts from a Senior Dad – My Daughter’s Senior Thesis

To all Great Hearts Parents of a High School Senior,

March and April have brought a lot of milestones in our senior’s life. She had made her college decision in the winter, which has allowed our family to settle into this spring and enjoy some of the time-honored senior traditions at Great Hearts. She went on her senior trip with her classmates to Washington D.C. She enjoyed her last high school spring break where we took a family vacation. She went to her senior prom. She has sent out her graduation announcements, and we are planning her graduation party. All of them important pastimes of her senior year that her mother and I have intentionally taken time to enjoy in the moment.

Receiving a Great Hearts education has been an incredible journey for our eldest child and rewarding as a parent watching her personal and academic growth. But what has been especially rewarding has been watching her complete one of the most defining experiences of her academic career – her senior thesis. Perhaps the highest achievement of her high school education.

There’s a sense of freedom and responsibility I have seen in her that comes with completing a major independent project. Her thesis challenged her to take ownership of her learning, giving her a sense of self-reliance and accountability. Watching her write and rewrite her long-formatted 15-page paper showed us how this was much more than an assignment to her. This was her work. I can’t tell you how many hours she spent reading and researching, how many edits the paper went through, or how many meetings she had with her advisor, but I can tell you how excited she was with each new revision of the paper.

This would be a good time to tell you that this thesis has spanned an entire year, beginning at the end of her junior year up to this final quarter of her senior year. Throughout the year, we have witnessed her carefully exploring, studying, and discussing her positions with us, her friends, and her faculty advisor. We have seen her wrestle with her ideas, refine her thesis statement, and receive more edits and revisions from peers and her advisor. It is not for the faint of heart, but so worth it.

She was  empowered to go deep into her topic and the supporting literary works that she chose, with the help of her advisor, allowing her creativity and critical thinking skills to flourish. But the reading she did, and the written portion of the thesis was only the tip of the iceberg.

We had the unique experience, along with our family and friends, to witness her public oral examination called the thesis defense, where she gave a brief speech synopsizing her position and then subjecting herself to questions and challenges to her positions from a panel of three faculty members – something that I couldn’t imagine myself doing as a high school senior. But she handled it with poise and a maturity far beyond her years. This final hurdle was not just a test of her knowledge, but a testament to her personal growth that she has developed throughout her time at Great Hearts as a scholar.

The senior thesis experience at Great Hearts is truly transformative, setting our students apart as they embark on the next chapter of their academic career. As a parent, I couldn’t be prouder of the resilience and determination my senior has demonstrated throughout this process.

Sincerely (until the next milestone),
A Great-Hearted Senior’s Dad

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts?  Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.