Seasonal Series: An Interview with Eric Ahn

Posted on by Shannon Yeow

Eric Ahn Headshot
Eric Ahn ’24, from Suwanee, Georgia, is an Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE) major at Princeton University. Ahn is the Class of 2024 Treasurer, as well as a member of Manna Christian Fellowship and Kindred Spirit. This coming summer, Ahn will work as a Trading Intern at IMC Trading before returning to Princeton in the fall to obtain a graduate degree in finance.

In the spirit of upcoming senior thesis deadlines, I wanted to interview a senior currently working on their thesis. As an underclassman that doesn’t have to worry about any form of independent work yet and a COS BSE major, one of the only majors exempt from the senior thesis requirement, I’ve always been curious about the thesis writing process and what a BSE senior thesis entails. As a part of our Seasonal Series, I am excited to present my interview with Eric, as he shares his ORFE senior thesis, his interest in finance, and his advice for rising seniors. 

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Reading Courses: A Guide

Posted on by Shane Patrick

As course selection begins, you might find yourself searching endlessly through the Course Offerings webpage, trying to craft the perfect schedule for next semester. You’re probably weighing a number of different factors— the professor, the class topic, the reading list, the different requirements it fulfills— and trying to balance these in the best way possible.There is another possibility here, which you can’t find in the course offerings: reading courses. Not advertised on department websites or listed with course offerings, reading courses are some of Princeton’s hidden academic gems. The University defines a reading course as a specially designed course not normally offered as part of the curriculum that is arranged between a student and a faculty member. These courses count for academic credit, and focus on a topic of the student’s choosing. If you’ve ever dreamed about designing your own course, this is your opportunity.

Students walk across McCosh Courtyard at Princeton University.

McCosh Courtyard in November

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Researching in Princeton’s Special Collections

Posted on by Shane Patrick

If you want to take your research in the humanities to the next level while here at Princeton, one of the best ways you can do that is by availing yourself of Princeton’s Special Collections. Home to vast stockpiles of manuscripts, rare books, coins, and other materials, Special Collections is a great place for students who want to pursue rigorous and impressive humanities research while making use of the excellent resources that Princeton has to offer. Many of these articles were donated by benefactors or acquired by the university specifically so that they could be researched by professors, students, and other researchers. In this article, I’ll present some reasons why you might consider checking out Special Collections, and then follow that up with a basic “how to” for when you visit.

Image shows an Ethiopic book, opened to pages featuring pictures of saints and text in Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic)

A manuscript of an Ethiopic Synaxarion in Special Collections

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How to use a Reference Room

Posted on by Shane Patrick

Most people probably know Trustee Reading Room as that large room with big glass windows on the first floor of Firestone, where you go when you want a really quiet study space. Perhaps you’ve recently studied for midterms or worked on a paper in its sacred silence. Maybe you’ve wondered if there’s more to Trustee than simply providing a quiet atmosphere for study. The answer to that question is: yes, there is. It is the primary reference room of Firestone library– and if you read to the end of this article you will learn how to make the most of this tremendous resource.

Students work in Trustee Reading Room.

Trustee Reading Room in Firestone Library has many reference works

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Wright Library: An Under-utilized Resource for Students

Posted on by Shane Patrick

When I first walked through the doors of Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) on a sweltering September day a few weeks ago, I was struck by three things: the great size of the library, the small number of students there, and its remarkably-strong air conditioning. As I set my things down and cooled off in a quiet study area, I began to work on an assignment for one of my classes. My gratitude for the engineers who designed the building’s cooling system was quickly superseded by my admiration for those who worked together to produce the largest theological library in America and the second largest in the world after the Vatican Library in Rome.

Image shows the facade of Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library in Princeton, New Jersey.

Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library is the main library at Princeton Theological Seminary.

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On-Campus this Summer? Read This.

Posted on by Amaya Dressler

Rockefeller College in the summer.
Rockefeller College in the summer. Photo Credits: Daniel A. Day (2014)

So you’ve been brave, reached out to that professor whose research you’ve always admired, and just confirmed a summer on campus doing the research of your dreams. Whether you’re a part of an on-campus research cohort (like ReMatch or HMEI) or starting up your own independent work, summer on-campus is a special, if not bewildering, experience. If you are anything like me, the first few weeks may be a little confusing as you figure out what is expected of you and what exactly you want for yourself. Even though you’re doing research full-time, you’ll likely find that you’re substantially less busy than you were during the school year. This raises some important questions about how you choose to spend your free time. Who are you outside of research? How do you navigate the campus when you’re no longer a full-time student? Beyond time-management, what else should you know about being on-campus in the summer? Below I’ve compiled a short list of advice I’ve found most helpful during my summers on campus.

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Effortless Perfection at Princeton: The “Perfect” Thesis is Really Hard Work

Posted on by Ryan Champeau

Photo of Ryan CC Champeau's undergraduate thesis - bound, hardcopy print book with gold lettering of thesis title: Opening Minds to Close the Gap: Shifting Attributions for the Achievement Gap in Education to Foster Support for a Progressive Education Policy

My final senior thesis!

I’ve always loved reading through senior thesis titles and thinking “Wow, that’s clever,” “That’s genius,” “I wonder how they came up with that.” The senior thesis, which many seniors refer to as a full-blown novel, is supposed to be a senior’s finest work and proudest possession. It looks impressive in its black book with gold font. It is 115 pages. It has fancy acknowledgments. As a first-year/sophomore, and even as a high schooler on tour, I was in awe at how seniors could create such a perfect paper. It isn’t until now that I know the answer: hard work. 

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A Letter to the Juniors on the Senior Thesis

Posted on by Agnes Robang

Students sitting in rocky dining hall working on their senior thesis.
Students working hard at thesis bootcamp

Hello juniors! 

Spring is always a rollercoaster of a semester. We have just about 6 more weeks of school before spring classes are over! Before you know it, you will be a senior and will have to start thinking about the big T – thesis. I recommend you take a little bit of time to think about your thesis – maybe you’ve already started after reading Ryan’s great post around choosing a topic. You don’t have to have all of the answers right away, but at least you would already have given it a bit of thought and let your ideas brew at the back of your mind. 

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iFly and I Rest: Making the Most of Winter Break

Posted on by Ryan Champeau

Photo of hand holding a takeout container with mini donuts covered in chocolate and powdered sugar. A blue food truck is in the background.
The outdoor food festival takes place on Prospect at the end of Wintersession. From donuts to skiing to iFly, you should definitely check it all out!

Winter break is long and much-needed. It is a time to relax, rejuvenate, and reflect on the semester. In this post, I will give advice on how to make the most of the next few months, but I recognize that you know yourself best and should choose to spend your break in whatever way makes you happiest. Without further ado, here are my takeaways from the last 3 winter breaks:

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A Figure Speaks a Thousand Words

Posted on by Amaya Dressler

Example boxplot titled Boxplot of Magnesium, Ashwaganda, and Melatonin with Deep Sleep. The boxplot analysis indicates statistically insignificant variations among supplement types. The author describes the follow-up question after their ANOVA analysis: how does my sleep vary with a magnesium pill vs. without a magnesium pill?
The boxplot comparison accurately reflects the variation between different sleep supplements and their effect on deep sleep quantity. As seen above, the boxplot demonstrates the presence of a single outlier under the Magnesium group which could have easily skewed and misrepresented the data in another type of figure.

As anyone who has taken one of Princeton’s introductory statistics courses can tell you: informative statistics and figures can and will be incredibly useful in supporting your research. Whether you’re reworking your R1, writing your first JP, or in the final stages of your Senior Thesis, chances are you’ve integrated some useful statistics into your argument. When there are a million different positions that one can take in an argument, statistics appear to be our research’s objective grounding. The data says so, therefore I must be right. Right?

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