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The Elusive Thesis LbNA #61687

Owner:Atom 118
Plant date:Jun 8, 2012
Location:
City:Blue Mounds
County:Iowa
State:Wisconsin
Boxes:3
Found by: shooting starz
Last found:Oct 8, 2023
Status:FFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jun 8, 2012
THE ELUSIVE THESIS by The Atomic Beans

This series of boxes is not related to the gathering theme, but it is related to our box for the gathering, Piled Higher and Deeper (aka PhD comics). We had planned on planting one Bonus Box (see clue in the PhD comic box), but we realized our initial plan would limit the number of folks who would find it. So instead, we altered the idea and planted a stand alone series of 3 boxes. The entire hike is probably about 1 mile, and it will probably take under 1hr to complete.

This series was inspired by a few folks we knew in graduate school, and please note, it in no way reflects how we feel about various levels of education.

In the beginning, there was Brad, Dave, and Mike. They all started graduate school full of motivation and exuberance. As they bound down the stairs from the West Observation Tower, they KNEW they could change the world. However, it was a LONG way down to the bottom, and they soon had to begin setting up experiments for their research projects. Not too long after reaching the bottom and heading left towards camp, Brad got distracted from his original goal and said to the others, ‘Hey, that guy over there looks like he’s doing something more fun than lab work. I’ve already had enough of this research, poor grad student thing.’ So Brad stopped with his Bachelor’s degree and didn’t go further than the ‘V’ tree 20 steps on the right.

Now, Mike and Dave were undeterred, and they continued down the trail. When they noticed a sign with a bike on it on the right, they decided to push back the frontiers of science. So, they followed the bike trail NW past some (Tesla?) coils and under some arches. As they reached a bit of a clearing where the trail starts to turn right (300 degrees), Mike suddenly realized that his research topic was just published, and that he had been scooped. Given his journey so far, he didn’t have the heart to make a fresh start. So, he quit his program and left with a Master’s degree. You can find what happened to him in the stump on the right, ~20 steps from the trail.

Dave decided this research path was cursed, so he turned around and returned to the wide path. From there, he followed the sign that made the most sense ‘The Home Stretch.’ He wrote and wrote and wrote (ie, went up and up and up) his thesis. He thought he might have spied the end of his graduate school career (ie, his thesis committee), but it turned out to be 3 close ‘V’ trees (1 left, 1 right, 1 left) and some other type of (Tesla?) coils near the middle one. But when he stood atop the mortar board in the middle of the trail soon after, he knew graduation was within sight. Twelve more steps will bring you to his end inside a small grouping of rocks. Look near the tree growing from the rocks on the right. Ahh, success!

To find your way home, continue uphill (you may have the degree, but life is still hard). At the intersection, go left.