LUC Interviews: Capstoned?

With the 16th of May rapidly approaching, third years are frantically writing their capstone drafts. LUC News was on the scene to get a feel for the general atmosphere:

1. LUC News: “How is the capstone going?”

Student 1: giggles hysterically, then turns around and runs away.

Student 2: sits down on the floor, wraps her arms around her legs and starts rocking back and forth: “Capstone. Capstone. Capstone. Capstone. Capstone.”

Student 3: “I think I’m on track, I still have one section to write, but we have two weeks left after all.”

Student 4: gives Student 3 a look of disgust. “We all hate him”, she whispers to us when Student 3 is distracted by his citations

2. LUC News: “Describe your current mood in three words.”

Student 1: hiding behind a pillar. “We can see you,” we shouted, but she kept ignoring us.

Student 2: “Capstone. Capstone. Capstoned.”

Student 3: “Will be fine.”

Student 4: “Kill me now.”

3. LUC News: “How helpful is your supervisor?”

Student 1: Comes back from the pillar, wipes a tear from her face: “I haven’t seen her in months. I wrote about 20 emails, still no reply. I even slept in front of her office one night to catch her first thing in the morning. She called in sick that day.”

Student 2: still rocking back and forth: “Capstone. Capstone. Capstone. Capstone. Capstone.”

Student 3: “He has been great actually. I am now realising how important a useful supervisor is. I don’t know where I would be without him.”

Student 4: “I have a random Leiden professor because I only started thinking about my supervisor after the summer. Anyway, he said I was on track, but frankly I don’t think he even knows my name. I wonder whether he has actually read it.”

Student 5: emerges from beneath the table: “Just to inform everyone, you don’t need a clear capstone idea or theme in order to get a supervisor. I brainstormed for months, and finally came up with a solid idea/plan in October, but by that time nearly all the supervisors were taken by students who in May just walked in an office and asked the teacher if they’d supervise them. At the time they had a vague area of interest nothing more, but they somehow got the supervisor. Just remember, this is not like a sales pitch, it’s like a run-and-grab/first-come-first-serve.” Disappears beneath the table.

After just three questions, all of the students seemed to be unwilling to continue talking to us; Student 1 was crying, Student 2 had become completely unresponsive, Student 3 was busy writing, Student 4 had started doing LUC News quizzes and when we bent down to check under the table, Student 5 had vanished.

Are you a third year? Are you writing your capstone? Let us know how you are doing! Just kidding, stop wasting time and get back to work. If you thought this article was about getting stoned and writing your Capstone, we are sorry to disappoint. Here is a picture of some bud to make it up to you.

#LUC #News