changing my initials.

So on tuesday (14th Dec) I had the inevitable Ph.D. viva (voce). For a Ph.D. student, this is the ultimate culmination of one's research (in my case, four years) and determines if their research is essentially 'worth it'. Not only does it assess your actual work, it examines your ability to do research in the future. So, it would have been perfectly normal to have been extremely nervous. Except, in this case, I wasn't. I had been dutifully prepared by members within my own department with a mock viva on the previous thursday. I had also been battling a gum infection (due to an invading wisdom tooth) and a flu so the first thing on my mind was actually getting back to full strength. Somehow, this sickness actually gave me (mental) strength and gave me the confidence to know that there was not a question they could ask that I wouldn't at least have an intelligible answer for.

So the day had come. I rented a car in advance so that I wouldn't be late. or even risk the chance of being late. I wanted to be sure. And the last thing I wanted was to walk and show up sweating buckets. That would have put me off immediately. I woke up extra early and made my way to the the Sports Tech Institute. I didn't risk eating breakfast in case of indigestion. And I had thought that it was only going to be a couple hours so it wouldn't be long until I ate anyway (oh and I also secretly thought there would be snacks as it was common to see cookies!). Well, nothing really turned out like I thought it would. There were no tricky philosophical questions. Instead, they were sound, probing questions that really made sure I understand what I did and why. The two hour mark at which I had hoped to finish was actually now the half-way point. The bathroom break, if you will. I can remember thinking at this time: "what have i done?.. what a massive error on my part to do a ph.d.!!!" But throughout the process, my answers were free-flowing and never forced. Perhaps, I actually was ready. Three and a half hours later and the interrogation was over. I had struggled to hold back a smile on my face when I knew the end was near... questions on chapter 10 were like music to my ears.

And then came the decision. There was no x-factor type suspense. Straight in: you've passed. Congratulations. Time to smile, I thought. There were minor corrections as can be expected from most ph.d's. The important thing was: additional data collection was not required. Just the overall presentation needed to be cleaned up, and this was something I was fine with since the original hand-in was a bit rushed. But that was that, and all of a sudden, I'm not longer a Mr.... I may just become a Dr!

Now, I secretly thought that champagne would rain down from the heavens and that I would be given a key to a secret underground society on campus that only other fellow doctors were a part of. That did not happen, and NO, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest. In the absence of these perks, I think the change in initials will suit me just fine.