It’s been a month to the day since I defended my PhD in my virtual viva. It’s fair to say that a lot of reflection has been done, and in a way I feel like a whole new person.
After the initial high and excitement of passing my viva, there was the slog of getting my corrections done and then it was sort of … it. I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since viva day – it feels like a lifetime ago in some ways. All in all, after the initial excitement, life just goes on. It’s hard to believe that the long-awaiting climax of the PhD was so short lived. Not in a bad way, at all, just that life keeps going.
Since my viva, and in fact my viva blog post, I’ve had a few people reach out to me about their own viva and PhD experiences. I have to say, that has been really special for me. My blog was always for me, a place to process my thoughts and document my journey, but I did always hope that maybe someone might stumble across it and gain something to. I just didn’t imagine that would actually happen. Clearly, I am very open about my struggles through a PhD, but hopefully I’ve also given an insight into the good side of PhD life too (okay..maybe not so much…but that’s why I created a tag of “Positive Posts”!)
A lot of the past month has been about putting my PhD behind me, I submitted my corrections to my examiners a couple of weeks ago, to be greeted with an out of office response. I am a big believer that people should take their holidays and well-earned break, but gosh was I restless that evening knowing I wouldn’t hear back about my PhD until September! Actually, by the time I went to bed it wasn’t even bothering me. The key thing is that my thesis is not my problem anymore, for the time being at least. I feel sort of at peace with it. It wasn’t the PhD I ever dreamed of doing, nor in the circumstances anyone could have predicted, but it is my PhD and my achievement. What’s another couple of weeks after more than 3.5years?
Other than that, it’s been learning to wind down from a PhD. I’ve started a post-doc role in my department and got my evenings and weekends free for what feels like the first time in my life. To be honest, I’ve actually been pretty restless – I’ve read a couple of books, watched a bunch of TV and made headway on a ridiculously tough puzzle that I’ve been ignoring for a year. I think this is what people do when they don’t have a PhD to do?!
It’s a weird feeling, pretty much having a PhD, but not having to do anything to make it happen at the moment. The mental break, and the lighter workload is lovely. I feel so much lighter. So for any of you going through a tough time of it at the moment in your PhD, here’s your message that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can make it through your PhD if it’s what you want to do.
Shruti's PhD 