Today in History: Post thesis life Tiger travels

With final exams and graduation around the corner, the Class of 2026 is PTL, or “Post Thesis Life.” Having submitted the culmination of a year’s worth of work, what are seniors to do with their newfound freedom? 

Today in history, on April 30, 1997, The Daily Princetonian reported on the solution some members of the Class of 1997 had found: “escape to tropical locales.”

Although Chemistry majors with a deadline of May 5 were still crouched over working on their theses, with deadlines as early as April 3 for economics and SPIA concentrators, some seniors were jet-setting before the start of reading week. 

Following the submission of his thesis titled “Common Stock Returns and the Standard Deviation of Financial Analysis’ Forecasts for Long-Term Earnings Growth,” Jeff Larsen ’97 and 15 other seniors left campus for the British Virgin Islands. 

Larsen traded in his advisor for a new mentor: “Captain ‘Slow’ Joe Mellen,” dubbed the “sensei of fun.” The captain oversaw the seven-day voyage of two 54-foot yachts taking the seniors on a trip around the Caribbean islands. Still with a lot left to learn, even at the end of their Princeton journey, the students reflected that Captain ‘Slow’ Joe became one “of their most influential — and most informal — teachers.” They claimed they learned more from him in just a week than from their four years at Princeton. Larsen’s takeaway from Captain Joe? “Life boiled down to two points: Be a good person and enjoy life.”

Larsen adopted the “enjoy life” mentality, reflecting to The Daily Princetonian after his trip, “After the thesis and the job search process, it’s nice to go to the islands where things go real, real slow.” In a dramatic change of pace, the voyaging group went from being “as stressed out as you can get” working on their capstones to “as relaxed as you can be” sailing around the tropics.  

Other seniors fled campus in search of a temporary respite before their final weeks of class to far-flung destinations, ranging from the tropics, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. 

Rob Penner ’97, a politics major, and four of his PTL friends recuperated in Florida, golfing and letting off steam in Palm Beach. Penner recalled that the April break was “a great way of separating the demands of thesis work from the last few weeks of school.”

The trip served as a last-minute bonding experience for the seniors about to part ways. Larsen reflected, “It was a great combination of relaxation and camaraderie.” 

Patricia Huffman, the then-manager of the American Express Travel Agency office house in the U-Store, told the ‘Prince’ in 1997 that the end of thesis season led to an uptick in business. 

As the year comes to a close, and seniors begin to near the end of their Princeton undergraduate careers, the words of Captain Joe, brought over in the ’90s from the British Virgin Islands, ring ever true as sage graduation wisdom. Whether you hop on a plane or stay on campus this week, “be a good person and enjoy life.”

Jillian Ascher is the head Archives editor for the ‘Prince.’

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.