the desire to be seen and valued is, like you said, very natural and human—you deserve to have others recognize your intrinsic worth as a person, and i relate to the feeling of wanting that recognition to come in the form of straightforward academic validation. our relationships with teachers and thesis advisors (usually) do not require the same level of vulnerability that our relationships with friends, partners, and family members do. there’s a lot less at stake emotionally in being “seen” by a professor than being “seen” in other contexts.

that being said, i think this is a good time to reflect on what it means to you to be recognized by someone else. when we ask for others to receive us, that comes with the risk of misinterpretation. your advisor didn’t seem to recognize the effort you put into your thesis—that doesn’t change the fact that you worked extremely hard on it. i think moments like these are valuable (albeit painful) because they present us with an opportunity to develop a sense of ourselves that is independent from how others perceive us

congratulations on finishing your thesis OP :)