The Viva Survivors daily blog is almost a year old! Thanks to everyone who reads, subscribes, shares it and sends me questions. Saying thank you is important: when you get the chance in your thesis acknowledgements make sure you take the time to say thank you. You did the work, but you had support and encouragement. I’ve written every word of this blog over the last year, but my ideas wouldn’t have spread far without help along the way. I want to take a few words today to thank four people who have inspired and helped me:
- Jennifer Polk: Jen is a big force for good for academia! She has used her platform to connect people, ideas and more. Some of the most read posts on Viva Survivors are due to her taking the time to read and then share them.
- Helen Kara: my co-author on Self-Publishing For Academics, Helen is an inspiring writer, researcher and facilitator. Her blog covers a wide range of topics and ideas and the drive she shows is an encouragement to me to keep this daily blog project going!
- Ellie Mackin-Roberts: I’m a huge fan of Ellie’s YouTube channel, her honest and generous sharing is inspiring. Her practical videos as well are super-helpful to researchers at all career stages.
- Inger Mewburn: The Thesis Whisperer! Inger recently celebrated eight years of her blog – I have a way to go yet! – and quite simply, if you’re looking for help on any aspect of the PhD journey, search on the Thesis Whisperer site first.
If you don’t know these wonderful people and their work then go check them out. All four of them inspire me to do more with this blog and this site. If you like the look of what they do, then also take a look at Helen, Ellie and Inger‘s Patreons – all of them have opened up avenues for others to support the good they do that helps a lot of people.
And to bring us back to vivas and the end of the PhD: really, really, say thank you to your friends and supporters in your thesis. It’s just something small to say, “you helped me.” Saying thank you doesn’t have to take long and it doesn’t have to take much.
Thanks for reading 🙂