One down, one to go!

My mock viva went quite well on Friday, it seems. It lasted about 2 hours, had some rather difficult questions, but my supervisors said I addressed them well. I found I had a tendency to forget what I was saying when I started answering odd questions, especially after a long intro to the question, so my mind went blank. I'll have to try to write down keywords while they're speaking to stop me rambling inanely in my replies.

To be honest, I was a bit gobsmacked by the good feedback I got, both supervisors were so enthusiastic about my work that I was a bit taken aback. Both said it had been useful to have a break from it and both hadn't touched it for months, so came to it fresh. Apparently it's really good, interesting, enjoyable to read, well written and I should be proud of it. And it would make a great book. And they loved my idea about a curatorial project and suggested one of the major London museums, which I had in mind anyway, though I didn't want to seem too big for my boots by suggesting it myself before I've actually got the whole thing wrapped up. Blimey!!!! :-)

So there we go, one exam done and the real thing next week. It's done my confidence a lot of good, so now I can just get on with revising as I have been and stop agonising quite as much. I'm not so naive that I think the viva's going to go as smoothly as the mock, I think it's wrong to take anything for granted, but it's been a really useful experience. I'm so lucky I've got good supervisors, it makes a hell of a difference.

So... I'll see what happens on Thursday.