Part Two of the Honors Thesis Journey: Sunny Hwang

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Part 2: Completing the Honors Thesis 

In the previous installment of this series, Sunny described how she planned her Honors Thesis (a creative portfolio on the sense of belonging) and the thought process behind it. Here, she explained the work she’s done so far and the steps she took towards completion. Check out the progress Sunny’s made!

How did it feel to go through the actual process of working on your creative portfolio?

I did my creative portfolio in one semester, so I felt a little rushed and I think there was a bit of pressure to get it done. I took the Truth/Telling: Reading and Writing Narrative Nonfiction Thesis Seminar with Professor Connie Griffin. It's a three credit course and I think it was rigorous enough, it's a good pace and a good amount of work being produced every week. Trying to produce my actual projects and write my preface, while also following the course was definitely challenging, but It wasn't impossible, it was very doable as long as I committed my time and laid it out properly. 

It was challenging but that being said, it was also enjoyable! I learned a lot by working on it so much; I learned a lot about myself, how I work in terms of academics, but also how I work as a person. 

My theme was the sense of belonging, so I learnt about how I felt belonging in a community, in a relationship, and within myself. So overall, the process was good.

What were some challenges you faced as you went through the process?

The creative aspect can get challenging sometimes. You're working on the same theme and same type of creativity for such a long time, It's kind of like, “Okay, how much more creative can I get? What more can I write about the sense of belonging? Which other stories can I include?” My solution was just to create shorter pieces (like vignettes) and that was really helpful. 

I also had this major challenge where the app that I use for film editing started charging me more for tools that would have been free with the subscription I paid for. I ended up not using that tool and had to invest in an app called Final Cut Pro, which is a more professional editing app. It costs a lot more, but I think it was a good investment. 

That being said, I only had about three weeks to work on the short film and a chunk of that time was spent on me trying to figure out the new tools, shortcuts, and ways to go about this editing tool and trying to incorporate audio, so that was a major challenge.

What was the filming and set-up process like?

The process wasn't too bad, I think the expectations were pretty clear. My committee chair, Connie Griffin, did a really good job of guiding me through the process and helping me find a theme. I was able to find it by week three or four as we would have these check-ins throughout the semester where she would give me feedback. After hearing what she had to say, creating my pieces came a lot easier. Sometimes, I would dive into different themes and test the waters and challenge myself, but for the most part, I knew that my entire portfolio was going to be around the sense of belonging. 

So that's what I started to focus on. With my creative film, I didn't know what it was going to be until right before Thanksgiving break. Originally, I was going to do three paintings or some sort of fine arts piece, but I wasn't passionate enough about it and I was more excited to create a short film. 

I based the film on a recent short narrative that I created about a previous relationship I was in. Since I was in the height of everything that was happening, I just understood my emotions really well where I felt confident that I could play it out into the film. The filming aspect was not easy, for sure, because I had to really bring out the emotion and think about the imagery behind everything. But for the most part, because I was super passionate about it, it wasn't too challenging. 

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For filming, cameras are expensive, so I didn’t have my own. But the UMass digital media lab had cameras that I could borrow for a couple days and they're also flexible with it if you explain to them why you need it for longer, like I was working on a project so I’d ask for five days instead of three. As long as you have a UCard, you can borrow it from the library. Originally, I was going to get some help from classmates because they're all very open and non judgmental, however, I realized how personal this film was and I needed my own space to express that. Having another person there would have limited how I express my piece so I just ended up filming it by myself. I placed the camera in different places and used my iPhone as well, just by taping it on a wall. 

I found that it was awfully challenging trying to do all that on my own. Trying to do script writing, acting in your own piece, and producing it was a lot. 

As for my preface, I based it off what other students had. In my course, there’s an archive section, so I looked through that to get ideas. The Honors College has an outline that tells you what should be on it. I first wrote about the course that I took and what we did in the classroom. Then, I wrote about myself, my history around why certain things come up, like my experience with traveling or not traveling, moving around to different countries, different schools, and why the sense of belonging was so important to me and what it meant for me as a narrator. I also talked about my engagement with writing,  about how I challenged myself to different writing techniques and how the course really assisted in that learning process. Lastly, I included acknowledgements, like to the Honors College, to my professor and to my classmates. 

How did you use your Committee as you went through developing the short film?

I met my chair every week through the class, so it was definitely convenient to have that type of support. With my entire committee, which was Professor Connie Griffin and Professor Mitch Boucher, we met several times throughout the semester. There was a quick check in at the beginning, where we got to know each other, and then four weeks later, we had a check in where I was halfway through. I sent all the short pieces that I was going to include in my portfolio. We also had a check in before Thanksgiving break and that's when I was like, “Hey, I want to break it to you guys that I don't know if I want to do this.”

They also had to approve my short film, so we met then. Mitch [Professor Boucher] also sent me a bunch of creative short films that I could use as a reference because there weren't many students who did it in the past. 

We also met after Thanksgiving break as a check in to see how I was doing and I had a presentation as well. They were both very involved in the process, especially my professor for the course, she was giving me weekly feedback on my written pieces, reflections, and discussion papers. She gave very good feedback and comments about what I should focus on and what I could dive more into.

How did you manage the time for your thesis and all your other classes and commitments?

For creative portfolios, it's important to set deadlines, but I think managing your time is a lot easier when you get an idea. 

If you have something you want to write about, when you're passionate enough, your pieces almost come passively, they just flow out. 

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It’s important to set certain word limits in the beginning so that you're getting enough content to work off of and get feedback for. You just need to make sure to set some time aside. Like brainstorming for your writing, clustering, these are all techniques that you learn in the course, but really engaging with the class and taking the feedback that your committee chairs give and applying it will help. All my courses this semester have been writing based. So I would have like six papers weekly, paper after paper, but that being said, you just really need to set aside time for it. It comes passively if you're passionate enough but those essays are not gonna write themselves, so set aside maybe like an hour or two just to write. Let your mind flow, don't think about a word not making sense or the grammar being incorrect, don’t get caught up, just do it!

What were some of the symbolism and motifs used 

Majority of my film was based in my dorm room because it showed how my personal space really affected how I process this relationship. I got a bunch of red construction paper to express my anger towards my partner during that time and so how I manage these rare construction papers is kind of how I manage my anger, frustration, and emotions, so it was imagery. I also had some flashback clips that I used from my actual life. 

In the clips where everything is red and I'm in my dorm room, I wore all white. I wanted there to be a visual contrast between the paper and myself, but it also represented purity or my pure intentions and just innocence. 

It's definitely a detail that’s not easy to see but there's a lot of meaning and intention that I put behind my piece.

As you’re going through the process of writing the portfolio, do you have any recommendations?

For anyone doing a creative portfolio in two semesters, I think it's amazing and I highly recommend it. You definitely get that time to understand yourself and your creative piece. But if anyone's considering doing two semesters into one, it's definitely doable, but full disclosure, it's extremely challenging. You really have to manage your time well and make sure that you're creating something every week that you're going to use in your portfolio. What helps is knowing what your theme is going to be at the very beginning and working closely with your committee members, they help a bunch. 

Do I think doing a portfolio from two semesters into one is for everyone? No, I don't think so. But if you are really up for it, then I recommend it.