The Wait
I wasn’t prepared for the wait at the end of my viva. I didn’t know it was fairly typical for examiners to have a private conversation after all of the discussion.
I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t know I was going to be waiting a while.
In fact it was almost twenty minutes. It seemed to stretch on and on.
Not knowing what else to do I went and sat in my office at the other end of the long corridor from the seminar room where I’d had my viva.
I wasn’t prepared for the wait. I just sat there. I tried to think about what had just happened, what I thought it might mean and what to do with myself.
It was a struggle because I was so tired.
I wasn’t prepared for the sudden knock on the door from my internal examiner. He invited me back to hear the outcome and what would come next. It was a surprise: a little under twenty minutes isn’t that long but had also felt much longer.
I wasn’t prepared for the wait at the end of my viva – so I use any opportunity to share my experience so that others might think ahead.
What would you do to be ready for the wait at the end of your viva?