Is It Important for Students to Create Something That's Original?

No one cares about your thesis when you are plying for a job. They care about the overall body of work you have to present. More than anything else, more than whether r not it's original or not original. Or, as you said, a project that's really well done. Foris the project thats not really well done, or not really the most beautiful, but it contains, within the process, the things that you've described. And is it important for students to try try and create something that is original, or often something which sets up for debate?