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Nathan

A Series of Successes

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Thesis submission isn’t a final domino being knocked over. The process of doing a PhD is rarely so tidy or organised. You get to submission through success; it could be a messy sequence of events over several years, yet in the end you achieve enough. A series of successes leads you to where you need to be.

The PhD process can sometimes be really messy, so take care in your viva preparation to reflect on your successes more than the mess. Remember the results that got you where you are, rather than the barriers that got in your way. You will have learned through mistakes and failures too, but it’s reflecting on the success you’ve found that will help you get ready.

Remind yourself of how you got to the achievements you have now.

Nathan

Lots In Common

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Clever. Skilled. Professional.

Prepared. Looking for a good outcome.

All at the viva for good reasons.

It’s worth remembering that you and your examiners have a lot in common.

Nathan

You Did It

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Yes, you had help, you had supervision, you had supporters – but you did the work.

Remind yourself as you get closer to your viva day.

You showed up to do the work.

You invested the time to learn more.

You invested the effort to develop your skillset.

You took the time to keep notes.

You wrote your thesis.

You did it.

Nathan

And Now…

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…you’re ready to face one more challenge: your viva!

Wait, I skipped ahead! Go back to the beginning…

 

You got onto a PhD programme because you were good enough. Your story before then, your successes, your challenges, your grades and skills, they convinced your institution you could do a PhD.

You worked through to submission because you were good enough. It won’t have been easy. You’ll have had success but also lots of challenges. Some days and weeks will have been joyous, but perhaps some months will have felt awful. In the end though, you did it. You did your research, you wrote your thesis and submitted it. One more milestone reached.

You prepared for your viva by building on what you did. You highlighted the important stuff, reflected on how you did it and got ready to talk to your examiners. You’re good enough. You really are!

You’re good enough, and now you’re ready to face one more challenge: your viva!

 

Now, right at the end, it’s worth reflecting on the journey that’s got you this far.

Nathan

Hundreds To One

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The viva: hundreds and hundreds of days of work that come down to one day. One day when you have to do well.

That could sound very worrying, but remember that all that work is the price of admission for the viva. You have to invest all of that time and effort to get that far. It’s not idly or blindly spent; all of that effort helps to make you ready for that one day with your examiners.

One way to look at the viva is telling yourself, “After all this time, it all comes down to this!”

A more helpful story is to think, “After all this time, I’m ready for this!”

Nathan

You Can Do It

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If not you, who?

Because you’re the only person who can pass your viva.

If not now, when?

Because until you’re in the viva you have time to prepare, time to get ready.

Time to remind yourself that you’re the only person who can pass your viva.

Nathan

Unstuck

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For anything you were stuck on during your PhD, reflect:

  • What was the problem? Why was it a problem and why was it worth solving?
  • What were you stuck on? What caused the issue? What was the stickiest point?
  • How did you get unstuck? What helped? What did you realise?
  • What was the outcome? How did this help you? And why does any of this stand out to you now?

Being stuck doesn’t feel great. Getting past it is a sign that you have learned, developed, grown. You know more, you can do more.

Positive signs for the viva.

Nathan

There’s Always Next Time

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Until there isn’t.

There’s another opportunity to get things right, another test you can re-run, another day to spend on writing and editing. Until you hit the deadline, the submission date, the limit of your resources.

A fear I’ve heard around the viva is that there’s no next time to make it right. I hear the worry, and I know for most people there is no cause for concern. Most vivas don’t need a second time, most candidates are exactly where they need to be – the overwhelming majority of candidates in fact.

But saying, “Don’t worry,” never helps.

From the small to the large, from worry over responding well to a question to worry about passing at all, there are actions you can take to help yourself.

Worry alone won’t help. You have to work past it.

What can you do to be more ready to respond to questions?

What practise could help convince you that your thesis is good enough?

What reminders could help convince you that you are good enough?

There’s no next time after the viva. You have one opportunity to show what you know and what you can do. One opportunity after thousands of others.

This one is enough.

Nathan

How Much Is Enough?

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It’s a good question to ask about a thesis or a PhD, but a hard one to answer. There are lots of possible factors.

  • How much does your supervisor think you need to do?
  • How much time can you spend?
  • How many chapters or words are people telling you that need to write?
  • How many experiments/interviews/papers/tests/models/observations/questions are you being told that you need to complete?

At the start of a PhD you might struggle to respond to the question of how much is enough. All of these factors, and lots more, could make it tricky to consider.

Nearer the end you can give a response and reasons: “This much, and here’s why.”

And the sooner you decide how much is enough, the sooner you’ll be able to work towards that goal.

Nathan

The Curio Viva

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You wouldn’t buy your viva from a supermarket, assuming that the viva was a physical thing you could buy. You wouldn’t find it by wandering up and down aisles, past eighteen brands of pasta sauce and ten kinds of toilet paper. Supermarkets sell to everybody, and vivas aren’t for everybody.

You have to know where to look. You have to be a bit of an expert really.

You’d be more likely to find your viva in a specialist antique shop. These things take time to become what they are. They may be one-of-a-kind, expensive by now, and aren’t for everyone. They’re rarely looked for on a whim.

And your viva is certainly going to be one of a kind, a real curio.

Like my old salmon metaphor, there’s only so far you can go with this! Take away the idea that vivas are rare, and yours is just for you, and find your own metaphor to help you come to it with confidence.

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