If your partner works in research, you may hear them mumbling words while they sleep like “Need to find references, Code is not compiling, the stupid rat died…”. They spend months in the lab striving to have their name featured among the authors of a published paper. But what if their name was the sole subject of a research paper?
This next idea really hits that sweet spot. This gift is about creating a research paper all about them. It will cover their history, achievements, important dates, their likes, their dislikes, and their plans for the future… The fun trick is to write it in the most scientific way possible, referring to your partner as the subject. You can start by professionally dividing your sections including an introduction, a timeline of their life, observations, discussions, and a conclusion. You may also reach out to their friends for the dirty details from their past (the good, the bad, and the cringe). The document can be done together on Google Drive and then ported to “Latex” (a program used for writing academic papers) using “Overleaf” (a free Latex editor). You can create your scientific figures using “Canva” or “draw.io”.
The effort put into this paper is definitely an out-of-the-box way to say “I love you”. To feel seen, to be loved for who they really are, and to have their achievements appreciated by their loved ones is the perfect recipe for a self-esteem boost and maybe, just maybe, to your happily ever after.
I wrote a full blog post about how I did it and what it looked like. Give it a read here
I made a template available for anyone to use. Here's a sneak peak. Comment below if you're interested in trying it out. It's free!
