Summer, a creative writing English concentrator who is also one of two female members of the Harvard wrestling team, wrote a series of memoirs for her thesis.

"What I'm trying to do is get a book proposal together by the end of June," she said.

Although Summer is busy making plans for next year, she said the process is much more low-key than the last few months of writing have been.

"My plans next year are to get a job and take it easy. I had a lot of pressure," Summer said of the thesis-writing process.

Peter H. Takeyama '98 is also spending his springtime on a final senior project. Takeyama, a biology concentrator hopes to have his comparative study of skate species (conducted in Uganda, Africa) published in an organismic biology journal. In the short term, Takeyama is concentrating on fine-tuning his research work and making a few cosmetic adjustments to his on-campus image.

"I know someone who, after turning in his thesis, dyed his hair blonde," said Takeyama, who may or may not dye his own hair a conspicuous shade of red or brown this summer.

Mary L. Naber '98, a joint concentrator in religion and economics, wrote a technical thesis focused on what she terms "debunking the public misconception that investing with ethical criteria will yield a low return" which she hopes to rewrite for publication in a finance or investment journal.

"This thesis developed because I took the perspective going into it that I wanted to do research for a company or organization outside," said Naber, a former Crimson executive. "I was bemused by an article I read in the Independent in which a fellow thesis writer was complaining and embittered because she felt that theses were meaningless."

Next year, Naber will work at one of the companies she conducted research on for her thesis, an organization in the field of social research for institutional investors. She cites her innate interest in her thesis, topic as the reason for her continued post-thesis work in the field.

"It's crucial that individuals take the time to stop running the race and evaluate those things in life that are most important," Naber said. "If one takes the time to evaluate what is important in their life, they can carry that on to their [work] after [their] thesis."

Whether working on publishing a thesis or catching up on sleep, life-after-thesis is a time to look forward to most seniors said.

"It's a very different state of mind having finished a thesis," Sugarman said.

"Definitely my state of mind is more relaxed. I've been going to the movies with friends again."