On Feb. 17, proud parents, faculty, administrators, and Iona students gathered in Ryan Library to watch Honors Program seniors present their Honors thesis presentations.  The afternoon began with an introduction by Honors Program Director Jeanne Zaino, College President Br. James A. Liguori, and honors senior Rachel Nachtrieb.  After the welcome and student anticipation, the presentations began.

Twenty-eight honors students presented their theses, which ranged across various fields and disciplines: Business, Communications, Political Science, Fine Arts, English, Foreign Language, Psychology, Science and Education.  The individual theses topics covered a wide spectrum – from the financial meltdown to evolving social media to student mission trips and even yoga. The various presentations were only 15 minutes long, but the amount of work and dedication involved in creating a thesis far outweighs the formal presentation of the thesis.

Learning how to create an honors thesis and how to research a topic starts in freshman year.  Honors students take Humanities in their freshman and sophomore years, discussing ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary texts, and then giving lengthy major oral presentations on said texts.  Honors students also take various upper level core classes throughout their college careers, and then take the junior and senior honors colloquium to cap off their final two years.

During junior year, the honors students begin to work on an honors thesis by choosing a faculty member from his or her major department to assist the student in finding an interesting and worthy topic.  The student works with the faculty member for roughly a year and a half to find a topic, research  data and information, and possibly complete a related internship.

During the end of junior year, the summer between junior and senior year, and the beginning of senior year, students write their theses.  The theses are lengthy, and depending on the student’s field of research and topic, can range from 30 to even 80 pages long. Writing this daunting project is a challenge piled on top of students’ class workloads, extracurricular activities, and job and internship commitments.

 “Creating a thesis is a drawn out process that can take a lot of your time, but there’s a great sense of satisfaction in being able to present your thesis to your peers and faculty who have seen you through your entire college career,” honors senior Richard Amico said.

While partaking in the Honors Program curriculum and writing a senior thesis is time consuming and at times, painful, students agree that creating a thesis is rewarding in the long run.

The Senior Honors Thesis Presentation Day, therefore, is a huge honor for all students graduating from the program.  Giving the presentation represents the end of a fulfilling four-year journey full of hard work, trial and error, frustration, satisfaction and growth in the Honors Program.

The day of presentations concluded with a celebration of embraces, laughs, picture-taking and a widespread air of accomplishment and joy.

At the day’s end, Dr. Sunghee Lee was awarded Honors Faculty of the year, and graduating Honors student Garner Soltes closed the day off wishing the graduating Iona Honors class success in graduate school and their future careers.