I’m a lapsed baker.
I like making bread, but it’s a practice I’ve fallen out with of late. I must get back to it. It’s a hobby I’ve let fall by the wayside for too long.
I’m not the world’s greatest at all, but I’ve mixed enough dough enough times that I feel competent. If I read a recipe for a style of loaf or roll I’ve not tried before, I feel capable enough to give it a go. If I look in the cupboard and see we only have half the flour I need, I feel confident to tweak the recipe or make a substitution. And if I decide I want the dough to prove for a long time, or even in the refrigerator, I will happily alter the ratios of different ingredients to compensate.
I haven’t baked once this year, but if you asked me to make a loaf tomorrow I’m sure I could do it.
When you get to your viva, you have more than proved yourself. You have done the work. You have experience. You have knowledge. You can rise to challenges. Your examiners might ask you about something new, something different or something hypothetical. Why should any of that disturb you? Given everything you have done, how could that be beyond you?
Like me and my breadmaking, go with what you know. Refer to how you did something before. Build on past experiences and understanding. Adapt and engage with the discussion your examiners present, rather than simply hope it will be everything you wanted.
Prove yourself in the viva, as you have proven yourself many, many times before.
Draw confidence from your past successes as you work towards your future achievement.
