Always look on the bright side...five days to go...

 In a few days it is the final viva of my PhD, the culmination of four years of hard work so I thought I would write my final pre viva post. If I am honest, I had been secretly looking forward to it, admittedly mixed with a fair amount of fear so I was possibly a little complacent. I thought I knew my thesis inside out...and I do if I just chat to someone with reference to it. But ask me a question about the thing and my brain moves out quicker than my ex husband did a few hundred years ago.

How do I know this? I had a mock viva with my very patient DoS who asked me questions and when he did I froze or would manage to answer questions on a superficial basis. I did a great impression of a goldfish as I sat there, mouth opening and closing whilst I prayed that some legible words would come out of it and he looked at me expectantly. If he used the word Foucault (my nemesis you may remember) in the question then that is all I heard. I was a wreck by the end of it and any shred of complacency was dispelled, which is probably a good thing.

Luckily for me my DoS is good on connections and how to make them and how to remember them (wait til you read his new book!) so I have a weekend of connections planned as I refuse to let down the people who have supported me throughout this process so in the meantime, a little Monty Python...