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Tag: luck and the viva

Nathan

What Will You Say?

Daily Post

I enjoy seeing viva success shared on Twitter. It’s fun to see people tagging posts #PhinisheD or #PhDone. I like seeing people celebrate their hard work, and others joining in to acknowledge the dedication and effort that goes into a PhD.

I smile sadly though when I see someone say that they “got lucky”. They “got past their examiners”. They scraped corrections or owe all their PhD success to things “just working out”.

There are parts of a PhD that can be attributed to good fortune – when a candidates works hard and that work pays off. But they’re not lucky. They’ve not scraped by. They’ve worked. They’ve stayed determined and developed themselves. Especially considering the times we’re living through, if you finish your PhD you’re not lucky: you earned it.

Consider the words you use to describe your success. The words you use to describe all the stages of your PhD journey have an impact. If you consider yourself simply lucky then you take something away from the talent, work and time you’ve invested – and ultimately you can take something away from the self-confidence you could build from all of that.

Nathan

Luck and the Viva

Daily Post

Luck could be a factor in your viva, some strange twist of fate that determines the eventual outcome. But in the same way that sunlight and water stimulates plant growth more than playing Mozart, there are other factors that are far more important. For example:

  • The work you did in your PhD;
  • Getting help from others;
  • Knowing what to expect from the viva;
  • Taking steps to prepare for it;
  • Feeling confident about your ability.

Don’t rely on luck winning through for you; instead, focus on factors that you can actually influence to steer your success.

Hope is not a strategy; luck is not a resource.