Daily viva help for PhDs
The day comes, you click print, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for the viva.
You have your viva, it goes well, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for corrections.
You take the time, do the work, finish your corrections and now you’ve finished your PhD!
But you have to wait until graduation.
Finally the day comes, you cross the stage, shake a hand and NOW you’ve finished your PhD! You’re done!
What now?
Which is better, treating the viva as a Special, One Of A Kind, Big, Important, This-Is-It Event Day – or going to university like it’s a regular day? Is it better go in thinking that it’s make or break, or acting as if the outcome is certain? Hard questions to answer.
Better questions to answer: What is the story that you tell yourself about the viva? Is it a helpful narrative? Would it be better to change the story?
Get ready, because after the PhD you have to do something better. It can’t be the peak of your life. Take some time to reflect when you approach the end. Even if you have a job or plans for what comes next, think about what else the New And Improved You can now tackle.
Episode 50! In some ways it has come around really quickly, and in others it feels like it has been a long time coming. This is a very different sort-of episode: just me talking for a little while. The Viva Survivors Podcast has been around for nearly three and a half years, and it feels like a good time to say a lot of thank yous, as well as reflect on where the podcast has come from, the opportunities that have come my way and talk about my plans for the future.
As another thank you, I’m offering 50% off all of my ebooks available at Payhip. Simply use the code FIFTY when prompted to get any of the following for half price:
The code is valid until the end of November 2015: share it on to anyone who you think would be interested. This is just one little way I can say thank you for all of the shares, RTs, emails, messages and other things that so many people have done for me and for the podcast over the last few years.
If you want to get in touch please email me, or find me on Twitter as @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I love hearing from people who want to come on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences.
Here’s to the next fifty episodes! Thanks for reading 🙂
Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)
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