Do It Yourself
My wife and I painted our daughter’s bedroom in the autumn.
We had to move furniture, in some cases taking it apart to move it; we had to box up and make space for books and toys; my wife sourced the paint and painting supplies; I carried the ladders and between us we gave four wall sections what felt like countless coats of paint.
We did it ourselves. We could have asked someone else to do it. They might have been quicker or more professional or both! As hard as the work was at times we took some satisfaction that we had done it.
(although my right arm still feels the strain from some of the stretching and carrying!)
Some jobs you can do yourself or get someone else to do it in your stead.
Viva prep is not one of those jobs.
You have to do it yourself: you have to do the work to feel the benefit of viva prep, although thankfully there is still a lot of support you can get from other people.
- Only you can read your thesis to refresh your memory – but you can ask others for their opinions on where to focus.
- Only you can annotate your thesis well – but you can look for plenty of ideas of what might help.
- Only can you feel the benefit of a mock viva – but you have to turn to your supervisor to make it happen.
You have to do viva prep yourself. You can’t outsource it but you can get help to make it happen.