The thesis writer is not the only one who learns from the experience. Bridget N. Terry, associate director of undergraduates in the economic department and teaching fellow of a section for thesis-writers, says thesis advisors learn from the process as well.

"Sometimes [advising] points out to me mistakes I don't want to make in my own work--it's hard to see that in your own work, it's easier to see it in someone else's. I see a lot of interesting ideas and I learn from their mistakes and their successes," Terry says.

Even careful advising and a Sam Adams do not necessarily relieve the pressure of the extraordinary demands of writing a thesis. Inspiration and excitement are balanced with printer failure and paper requirements.

"Sometimes it's really fun and interesting and you feel like a scholar," Berman says. "Other times I think, 'Why did I possibly decide to do this? It was a terrible idea.'"

Wei says students who bind their theses have encountered the unexpected problem of setting different margins for left and right pages. Because of the placement of the binding, odd and even numbered pages must have different margin settings.

All theses must be written on acid-free paper, and some concentrations have a requirement for paper weight, to ensure that the summa cum laude and magna cum laude theses archived in Pusey Library do not disintegrate.

Thesis writers not only suffer from mental stress, but also find their hard work physically taxing, with many developing repetitive stress injury.