Princeton University Athletics
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Heavyweight Class of 2020: Thesis Work In A Different Setting
March 22, 2021 | Heavyweight Rowing
"It's one thing to solve problems on paper, and it's very important to know how to do that, but it's another challenge entirely to organize a real project," specified Chris Lawrie.
That real project is the senior thesis.
The men's heavyweight rowing Class of 2020's final year at Princeton was to include:
Classes
Senior Thesis
Oh, and rowing too.
At Princeton, the thesis is a part of the education where a student takes less classes as it finishes the thesis. At other schools, the thesis is considered an addition where a student might have a full class schedule on top of their work.
How does a student choose a thesis topic?
For the Class of 2020 … that answer was all over place … and the world.
"First, I loved my junior seminar on irregular warfare (mercenaries, bandits, warlords, etc.)," said Ryan Hutzley. "Second, in speaking with Andrew Morgan '19 and Stephane (Pienaar) '23, I realized how little I actually knew about South Africa. In my junior seminar, African mercenaries had been a minor topic, but I figured there was more to the story. Sure enough, mercenaries played an important role in shaping the geopolitics of not just South Africa, but all of Southern Africa."
"I picked my theses' topics to explore themes of compassion and interpersonal relations — how we treat each other," stated David Babikian. "It fascinates and stumps me how simple these are in theory but complex in practice. If I can take anything away from both, it's that economics and poetry both fall short of describing how for some commodities, like compassion, ubiquity enhances rather than diminishes its value. "
Heavyweight coach Greg Hughes '96 knows exactly what each Princeton student is going through when it comes to the thesis.
He's done it before.
His thesis "Souls in America: How Allen Ginsberg's Poem Howl Shaped the Beat Generation" was written as he was a captain of the lightweight squad that eventually went on a national title. It was also an Olympic year where he spent time training with the U.S. national squad in addition to his work.
When a student comes to him with problems with their thesis, he comes with a unique perspective.
"I always felt super lucky to go to Princeton," specified Hughes. "Neither of my parents had the chance to go to college. I felt fortunate to have the chance and I never thought of it as a burden. Everybody has stuff on their plate, that's life and I really enjoyed doing the work. Princeton created an environment that allowed me to work hard, take chances and have the support I needed to succeed. The thesis is a key part of that experience and it is a kind of learning that you just don't get through other things you may do academically. Without question, It's the most valuable thing that I have ever done as a student."
It takes a large amount of work to complete the thesis, but the Class of 2020 spoke positively about the experience.
"The thing I enjoyed the most was just having complete autonomy to work on a project that I had defined myself and having the respect from faculty to take it in any direction that I wanted," confirmed David Bewicke-Copley. "Not having to work off a prompt, I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed writing it because it was wholly my own."
Sebastian Benzecry agreed with his classmate's sentiment. "I think primarily the thesis was a great experience for me because it allowed me to go into significant depth with a topic that I was fascinated by and produce something of genuine substance and detail. Not only was it a really satisfying way to end my academic career at Princeton - with such a big project that really felt like the culmination of everything that I had taken most interest in for all my 4 years - but it also was an incredible learning experience."
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic threw everyone a wrench in the spring of 2020. It cancelled the class' final season on Lake Carnegie in addition created issues with thesis work.
Lawrie's thesis "Everfly" featured his group building a system that autonomously swapped batteries in and out of drones, allowing for quasi-continuous flight. His team's goal was to create a drone that could work for 24 hours. Their progress was cut short because of the pandemic, but they did finish the first prototype ahead of schedule.
The topics for the Class of 2020's theses ranged from drones, Michigan's Public Education system, the exploration of human agency in the films of Coen Brothers, to the coffee era in Latin American. The group, as a whole, got a ton of value out of doing these.
"For me personally, the thesis honed my ability to just ask questions and to challenge even the most "common sense" assumptions made by other scholars and writers," Hutzley spoke. "In the era of fake news, I believe that this skill will help me to make better decisions, which will, in turn, help me become a better citizen and person."
"It taught me a huge amount about how to conduct independent research, which has put me in a great position going into my Masters' degree, and working closely with my advisor, who I really look up to, was inspiring," Benzecry identified. "It also just gave me a tremendous amount of confidence going forward in any academic pursuit, and the lessons I learned doing my thesis have really set me up for my postgraduate degree."
In the end, while the Class of 2020 did not have the chance to earn any awards in the water during its final season, the group cleaned up with seven award/prizes for its thesis work, farthing solidifying its impact on the heavyweight rowing program in and out of the water.
"The Class of 2020 was special class," stated Hughes. "They inspired me by the level of maturity and perspective in the face of a challenge. They really understood what leaving a legacy means and how they provided an opportunity for others to achieve."
Thesis Information:
David Babikan
For Economics - What Makes a Giver? Demographic, Moral, and Situational Factors in Charitable Donation: An Empirical Analysis
For Creative Writing -A Caryatid, Touched"
Prizes:
Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize:
Outstanding Work by a Senior Prize
Sebastian Benzecry
True Stories: An Exploration of Human Agency in the Films of the Coen Brothers
Prizes:
Earl R. Miner thesis prize
The Lucas Award for a short animated film that tracks history of a piece of fabrice through time. Film was also accepted into the Big Shoulders Student Film Festival in Chicago
David Bewicke-Copley
Isolationism and the Cultural Future of a Globalising World
Henry Evans
Navigating the Indian World: The Impact of Indigenous Personal and Political Wills on the Exploration of the North American West, 1797–1809
Prizes:
The Prize in American History, established by the Society of Colonial Wars in the state of New Jersey.
Sam Fortuno
Five Jolts that Brewed the Specialty Coffee Era in Latin America: An Analysis of the Power Dynamics of Coffee Production in the Face of Five Unthinkable Challenges in the 1960-2000 Period
Ryan Hutzley
The Rise of Executive Outcomes: Race and Anxiety within a South African Private Mercenary Company
Micaela Keller
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death: The Impacts of Neoliberalism on Michigan's Public Education and the Consequences of Capitalism At All Costs
Chris Lawrie
EverFly: An Autonomous Drone Battery Exchange System
Prizes:
Morgan W. McKinzie '93 Senior Thesis Prize
John Marshall II Memorial Prize
The Donald Janssen Dike Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Andy LeRoux
Stock Price Reactions to Climate Events: An Asset Pricing Perspective
Andrew Redd
Development and Optimization of Ball Bearing Race Geometry and Ferrofluid Pressure Seals for EVA Space Suits
Spencer Sands
Implementing a Simulator for Tock OS
That real project is the senior thesis.
The men's heavyweight rowing Class of 2020's final year at Princeton was to include:
Classes
Senior Thesis
Oh, and rowing too.
At Princeton, the thesis is a part of the education where a student takes less classes as it finishes the thesis. At other schools, the thesis is considered an addition where a student might have a full class schedule on top of their work.
How does a student choose a thesis topic?
For the Class of 2020 … that answer was all over place … and the world.
"First, I loved my junior seminar on irregular warfare (mercenaries, bandits, warlords, etc.)," said Ryan Hutzley. "Second, in speaking with Andrew Morgan '19 and Stephane (Pienaar) '23, I realized how little I actually knew about South Africa. In my junior seminar, African mercenaries had been a minor topic, but I figured there was more to the story. Sure enough, mercenaries played an important role in shaping the geopolitics of not just South Africa, but all of Southern Africa."
"I picked my theses' topics to explore themes of compassion and interpersonal relations — how we treat each other," stated David Babikian. "It fascinates and stumps me how simple these are in theory but complex in practice. If I can take anything away from both, it's that economics and poetry both fall short of describing how for some commodities, like compassion, ubiquity enhances rather than diminishes its value. "
Heavyweight coach Greg Hughes '96 knows exactly what each Princeton student is going through when it comes to the thesis.
He's done it before.
His thesis "Souls in America: How Allen Ginsberg's Poem Howl Shaped the Beat Generation" was written as he was a captain of the lightweight squad that eventually went on a national title. It was also an Olympic year where he spent time training with the U.S. national squad in addition to his work.
When a student comes to him with problems with their thesis, he comes with a unique perspective.
"I always felt super lucky to go to Princeton," specified Hughes. "Neither of my parents had the chance to go to college. I felt fortunate to have the chance and I never thought of it as a burden. Everybody has stuff on their plate, that's life and I really enjoyed doing the work. Princeton created an environment that allowed me to work hard, take chances and have the support I needed to succeed. The thesis is a key part of that experience and it is a kind of learning that you just don't get through other things you may do academically. Without question, It's the most valuable thing that I have ever done as a student."
It takes a large amount of work to complete the thesis, but the Class of 2020 spoke positively about the experience.
"The thing I enjoyed the most was just having complete autonomy to work on a project that I had defined myself and having the respect from faculty to take it in any direction that I wanted," confirmed David Bewicke-Copley. "Not having to work off a prompt, I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed writing it because it was wholly my own."
Sebastian Benzecry agreed with his classmate's sentiment. "I think primarily the thesis was a great experience for me because it allowed me to go into significant depth with a topic that I was fascinated by and produce something of genuine substance and detail. Not only was it a really satisfying way to end my academic career at Princeton - with such a big project that really felt like the culmination of everything that I had taken most interest in for all my 4 years - but it also was an incredible learning experience."
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic threw everyone a wrench in the spring of 2020. It cancelled the class' final season on Lake Carnegie in addition created issues with thesis work.
Lawrie's thesis "Everfly" featured his group building a system that autonomously swapped batteries in and out of drones, allowing for quasi-continuous flight. His team's goal was to create a drone that could work for 24 hours. Their progress was cut short because of the pandemic, but they did finish the first prototype ahead of schedule.
The topics for the Class of 2020's theses ranged from drones, Michigan's Public Education system, the exploration of human agency in the films of Coen Brothers, to the coffee era in Latin American. The group, as a whole, got a ton of value out of doing these.
"For me personally, the thesis honed my ability to just ask questions and to challenge even the most "common sense" assumptions made by other scholars and writers," Hutzley spoke. "In the era of fake news, I believe that this skill will help me to make better decisions, which will, in turn, help me become a better citizen and person."
"It taught me a huge amount about how to conduct independent research, which has put me in a great position going into my Masters' degree, and working closely with my advisor, who I really look up to, was inspiring," Benzecry identified. "It also just gave me a tremendous amount of confidence going forward in any academic pursuit, and the lessons I learned doing my thesis have really set me up for my postgraduate degree."
In the end, while the Class of 2020 did not have the chance to earn any awards in the water during its final season, the group cleaned up with seven award/prizes for its thesis work, farthing solidifying its impact on the heavyweight rowing program in and out of the water.
"The Class of 2020 was special class," stated Hughes. "They inspired me by the level of maturity and perspective in the face of a challenge. They really understood what leaving a legacy means and how they provided an opportunity for others to achieve."
Thesis Information:
David Babikan
For Economics - What Makes a Giver? Demographic, Moral, and Situational Factors in Charitable Donation: An Empirical Analysis
For Creative Writing -A Caryatid, Touched"
Prizes:
Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize:
Outstanding Work by a Senior Prize
Sebastian Benzecry
True Stories: An Exploration of Human Agency in the Films of the Coen Brothers
Prizes:
Earl R. Miner thesis prize
The Lucas Award for a short animated film that tracks history of a piece of fabrice through time. Film was also accepted into the Big Shoulders Student Film Festival in Chicago
David Bewicke-Copley
Isolationism and the Cultural Future of a Globalising World
Henry Evans
Navigating the Indian World: The Impact of Indigenous Personal and Political Wills on the Exploration of the North American West, 1797–1809
Prizes:
The Prize in American History, established by the Society of Colonial Wars in the state of New Jersey.
Sam Fortuno
Five Jolts that Brewed the Specialty Coffee Era in Latin America: An Analysis of the Power Dynamics of Coffee Production in the Face of Five Unthinkable Challenges in the 1960-2000 Period
Ryan Hutzley
The Rise of Executive Outcomes: Race and Anxiety within a South African Private Mercenary Company
Micaela Keller
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death: The Impacts of Neoliberalism on Michigan's Public Education and the Consequences of Capitalism At All Costs
Chris Lawrie
EverFly: An Autonomous Drone Battery Exchange System
Prizes:
Morgan W. McKinzie '93 Senior Thesis Prize
John Marshall II Memorial Prize
The Donald Janssen Dike Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Andy LeRoux
Stock Price Reactions to Climate Events: An Asset Pricing Perspective
Andrew Redd
Development and Optimization of Ball Bearing Race Geometry and Ferrofluid Pressure Seals for EVA Space Suits
Spencer Sands
Implementing a Simulator for Tock OS
Players Mentioned
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