Play Time

I’ve shared a few posts for being playful in getting ready for the viva before, but nothing so comprehensive as Professor Pat Thomson’s post from March on “ten playful viva preparation activities“.

I love all of her suggestions, but the first particularly resonates given my general philosophy on getting ready for the viva – and my recent reflections on the end of my PhD:

Write a love letter to your Doctor self, listing all of the expert doctoral qualities and competencies they have. Write a break up letter to your student self, saying why you lived with them for so long, and explaining why it’s now time to leave them behind.

It would have been really helpful if Past-Nathan had taken some time to write a few letters to myself. I think I’d have felt better about how I was finishing. Working through that transition as I was coming to the end might have felt a little smoother.

There’s lots of great ideas in Pat’s list, so do go and check it out. Consider: how else could you play your way to prepared?