We hear survive and think of tragedy. Desperate situations. Almost impossible and yet somehow someone makes it through. Of course, given those associations, survive sounds scary.
Survive sounds scary but survive means manage to keep going in difficult circumstances.
Survive sounds scary but it doesn’t have to be life and death. It could be much less serious.
It could be difficult to meet with your examiners. All you feel about your work. All you’ve done. The anticipation and the nervousness making you uncomfortable.
But how difficult has your PhD been already? You’re still here. You survived. You managed to keep going in difficult circumstances.
Survive sounds scary. For the viva the simple thing to hold in your mind is you need to keep going.
