Well done Lara. My viva seems light years away, but it is so encouraging to read about your experiences. Your words will continue to inspire many people here.

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aww Kaymoy, you're so kind to say such lovely things!! thank you so much!!! aww this forum was so helpful! and being able to share my progress was really helpful! thanks again Kaymoy!! yep definately gonna take it easy today! and enjoy myself hehe :-)






awww thank you so much pamplemousse!! so nice of you to say, i really appreciate it! wow I was so waiting for that day when someone would say Dr Lara hehehehehe thanks!!

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Thanks so much Alpa!! yah its like a huge burden has been lifted off. it still doesnt feel real! its very strange feeling, i keep having to remind myself that i have genuinely passed and i didnt just imagine it all. and i keep thinking am i really AWAKE? did this just happen. im almost scared to believe it , like it will be taken away from me or something haha. thanks i will definately enjoy the rest and celebrations this week and then start on the minor corrections next week :-)




aww thanks Phdbug!! definately had to mention you!! :-)



Thank you Leppardi!! thats so nice to hear :-)

Lara, congratulations!!!! Well done, that's brilliant news!!! (up):-)(up)

You've worked so hard over the past year and have really been up against it, what a great outcome after all that work!! So you can leave it behind you now- wooohhoooo!!! Do you feel a bit strange now you've got no viva to think about, because it's been dragging on for so long, longer than most people have to wait.

Have a great rest of the week, you deserve it!!!!(up):-)(up)

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Massive massive congratulations!!!! I'm so so pleased for you Dr Lara! You are a real inspiration to those of us still on the journey, you pushed through, worked so very very hard and now you've done it!!!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 8-)

edited to say, I've just read through all of your posts - thankyou sooooo much - your last one nearly had me in tears - your happiness is so infectious - its making me want to kick off the 2nd year blues and get on without procrastinating so I too can one day have my own happy viva thread! Thanks Dr L ;-)

======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2009 15:07:07 =======

**************part 4 - my viva - the outcome *************
so basically it was a nice discussion, time really did fly by so quickly. said some nice and encouarging complimentary things about my thesis and my research.

The external examiner said something very positive and complimentary about something i had written about my theory or thoughts about X , which i cant remember now lol. and i was so flattered. They asked my opinion about how it would apply in another case, and what the future holds in this type of research. and if distinguished researcher (in my field) was sitting infront of me, what would i say to him, and how my research affects his well established model. some of the questions were challenging, and i enjoyed discussing them and coming up with the answer.

bottom line - you wont know what questions they will ask you. but if you know your thesis, you know the logic behind everything you did, and you know your background, and the history of it, and you have read the current literature, you will be fine! even after you submit your thesis, keep up to date with the reading!! up until your viva.
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they both closed their own copies of my thesis and asked me to give them abit of time and come back at 12.30, it was 12.10 at the time. so my viva was about 1 and half hours. and said my sup is probably anxious to see me.

i walked out, i was already on cloud 9 as i just had such an enjoyable viva and i really enjoyed the discussion. My sup was shocked to see me already out of my viva. his face was priceless. they asked me how it went, and i said, the examiners were really nice and i really enjoyed it. and they told me to come back at 12.30

so i went back up and i walked in , they both were standing, and said to me ... i cant remember the exact words but something like


" congratulations you have passed your Phd" and then something like, you are now Dr Lara (they actually said Dr *my real surname*).

shook my hand and gave me a polite hug. I was sooooooooooooo happy. and i was like OMG thank you so much!! I was like those contestants on game shows haha. it was the best moment of my entire life.


my sup said, well deserved, and gave me a hug too. by then i was just on cloud 9 and i couldnt believe it.

the internal then said, we just want you to do some minor corrections and officially you're given 3 months, but i would like you to get them done within 1 month, and so we can send the thesis off to senate house and wrap this up pretty quickly. and i will email your supervisor the list of corrections, as i dont have your email address, and you can then just send me the pdf file of the corrected version. he said he will email my sup the corrections by the end of the week. he seems very eager to get it wrapped up quickly. :-) i was by then happy to do anything! and i said, yes of course.


the external examiner then gave me back one copy of my thesis and said, i've made some notes on it and then she held the other copy and said "do you mind if i keep this ?" i was beyond flattered, and said, yes of course, thank you.

after that they left and my sup took them out to lunch and my other 2 sups took me out for a celebratory lunch which my 2nd sup paid for , bless her.

but before then, i called home and my mom was so happy and so was my dad. then i quickly text all my friends with just 1 line text said " i passsed my phd viva :-)"


then after lunch. i met up with collegue, and we talked about it all. then met some friends for dinner later on. and it was the happiest day of my life. it felt so surreal. and i kept saying. am i dreaming? and my 3rd sup was joking and said, yah imagine that, you have a dream that you did well on your viva only to wake up and realise your viva is tommorow, so he then pinched me to tell me, im not dreaming.

awww thank you so much Ruby!! i'm so happy to be part of your club now!! hehehehe

thank you so much !

i still can't believe it's happened. i still cannot believe i have actually passed my phd. little ol me!! who knew!!! i certainly did not!! For all those years, it was like a dark cloud over my head, i was never really in the present moment, as i always had my phd at the back of my mind, and everything was on hold. i will do X after my phd. it was the most uttered sentence that would come out of my mouth. it was always there, this burden of passing my phd. but now it's poof - gone in a day. and i feel strange and i literally have to keep reminding myself and replaying the moment they told me i passed, cause i'm worried that i have imagined the whole thing! lol

i'm too scared to look at my phd thesis copy the examiner has given me, as she said she's marked a few areas, but will have to wait for the official list of corrections from my internal. i think i will look at it after a few days. i just want to stay on cloud 9 until next week :-) and then next week, start working on the corrections.

awww bless, thank you Stressed!!!! :-) you're so sweet!!!! :-)

Woooo! Congrats Dr Lara!! That's brilliant news 8-)

======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2009 15:16:58 =======
======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2009 15:16:37 =======

Thanks Caz!! it feels so great to share my experience with you all :-) i'm gonna go and grab some lunch and then start emailing my sups ad all the people that have helped me with thank you emails. and also going to get some thank you cards and do all that stuff this week.

==

So pleased for you Lara. Well done!

======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2009 15:20:34 =======
======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2009 15:18:10 =======

awwwww thanks so much Bilbo!!!! :-)


haha i couldnt resist but just had a quick skim through the copy of my thesis and looked at some of the external corrections in pencil. not too bad, not too scary. I might start on the easy typos this week, whilst i wait for the official corrections list.

just cause i have this momentum and dont want to lose it. and my original document is an older version of word and i have a new version of word, so hope its all still compatible and i can still remember how to make PDFs and all that jazz!! i think i will start tommorow. as i am taking friday and the weekend off, for celebratory parties. and i got a party tonight aswell thrown by my aunt and uncle.

and i heard to make it easier for the examiner, you should make a list of what corrections you have done, on what page etc. so will start an excel document , documenting all of that. and might even highlight it in yellow for the copy that i send to my internal for him to check before i print it. obviously will -use the non yellow highlihgted bits for printing hehe

my sup actually said. i want a copy of your thesis. which i was suprised by lol.

Well done Lara - all's well that ends well :-x

Hey Lara, many congratulations!!! This is brilliant news! I'm so happy for you. :-) You showed your supervisors, eh!

It's given me some fire in my belly to get my thesis finished.

Oh wow Lara! Conratulations! The burdne is lifted. You must feel ecstatic. Well done Dr. L. :-)(up)8-)

Lara, that's wonderful, and I'm glad the forum helped so much: it gets me through too.

CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Lara, we'll be seeing you name in lights soon then... 8-)