Daily viva help for PhDs
Being fortunate means working hard and that hard work paying off.
Being lucky means that you didn’t need to apply yourself for the success you’ve found.
Being fortunate is achieving something through your labour.
Being lucky is getting something through a lottery.
As you get to your viva, be careful of the words you use to describe your progress.
Were you lucky to get this far or are you fortunate to have found the results you have?
You have to have a lot for your viva.
You need some research, developed over several years or more.
You need a thesis, written to an appropriate standard.
You need one or more supervisors to help along the way.
You need a little time to get ready before the viva, doing the right things to help you be prepared.
You need to be a good candidate – someone who has done the work, improved through the effort and success – someone ready to engage with their examiners’ questions.
If these are the things you need to satisfy for the viva then you don’t need luck.
There’s no luck with the viva. No trick or superstition to rely on for success. Instead, it’s all on you.
What you did, what you know, what you can do.
None of that is due to luck either. There could be good fortune – when hard work pays off – and you achieve something that was uncertain, but there’s no simple luck.
There’s nothing that just gets you through – and nothing that simply, randomly, unluckily stops you.
You worked for your success. That work continues to help you through the viva.
The harder I practise, the luckier I get.
Quote Investigator explores the story of this little phrase, which I only encountered recently but which has clearly been around for a while. Long time readers of this blog will know I don’t believe in “luck” – but I appreciate the sentiment here. The more you invest in your research, your skill, your knowledge, your thesis, your practice – the more you invest in yourself – the “luckier” you are when you encounter tricky situations.
Preparation is needed for the viva, but don’t forget you’re drawing on years of practice when you meet your examiners. You make your own “luck”.