My viva-voce Experience: A success story

Pre-Viva

As the journey of my PhD draws to an end, and post-submission delight and ecstasy sets in, the ultimate impediment between me and my goal was the much dreaded oral examination— the Viva-Voce. There was a gap of over eight weeks between the submission of my draft and when the Viva took place. After so much ambiguities as to when the oral examination will hold, a day was finally fixed and communicated to me— 24th of November, 2016. I had been patiently anticipating this date for a very long time, hence I was unmoved with the short notice.

However, as a very meticulous person, getting informed was like I’d been caged in anxiety.

All of a sudden, I became nervous and worried. Believe me; I was so anxious that I felt like pulling the day closer so I can just witness the day and be through with my defence. I lost a lot of sleep because of the anxiety breeding inside of me. The maximum sleep I got during the week was just three hours. And during those three hours, I wasn’t sleeping per say; I just laid with my eyes shut and these thoughts were bugging up in my mind. I was restless and thinking about how the day was going to be.

Few days before the defence, I totally distanced and disconnected myself from any luxury and leisure I was used to, as I couldn’t help any distractions when at the moment, this was just like ‘life’ to me. The social media apps I remain so addicted to (Facebook, WhatsApp) were totally disabled, others totally uninstalled. Countless of unreturned calls and messages.. One of my colleagues happen to defend his thesis three days before me, thereto, gave me some heads up on how things would be—the corrections and all that, just to make sure there is less to no mistakes, which was somehow blessing in disguise to me. Albeit, in all honesty that came to heighten my anxiousness and also made me more scared and very impatient instead of learning from my colleague’s experience.

I did a lot of research on how best to prepare for the viva, a lot of people through experience suggested having a sound sleep the day before. Hence, on the eve of my defence, I tried my possible have sound sleep¬, so I can get refreshed after being starved of sleep for almost a week. But this was not to be, as sleep refused to come. I slept late around 12:00 AM and woke up by 2:00 AM! I decided to use the time to pray to Allah for His guidance and favour and waited for daybreak. One could also organise a mock viva. I opted against that, as I strongly believed that I'd garnered sufficient experience by attending many PhD viva(s), colloquiums, seminars and talking about my thesis with experts in my field in different conferences. I am not against; I just did not want to do it. Surely it is a good idea to do mock viva especially for those who do not regularly see their supervisors.

In the wee hours of the D-day, I went to the office to continue with my job—I was on active duty and wasn’t on leave as the case was during the entire journey. I had to combine both work and studies and was very dutiful to an excellent stance.My defence was to come up by 3:00 PM, and therefore I took an excuse from my supportive boss, some few minutes to 3:00 PM to prepare.

Two hours before the defence or thereabout, I was so anxious and worked up that I felt restless with a severe backache. It just seemed like I was a shadow of myself. I almost gave up as I begin to feel dizzy. Recall— my prayers for Allah’s guidance early morning when I could not sleep? That sure did it, a powerful voice within me reminded me that: I conducted this research, I know about the contents of this study more than my examiners and supervisor combined, why get anxious, and all worked up? All I needed to do is clarify with them what they don’t understand. That miraculously gave me confidence, all anxieties and pressures were gone. I composed myself and went to the venue to await my examiners and went on to give one of the best presentation of my life.

During the VIVA

I was at the venue of my thesis defence few minutes to 3:00 PM, and at exactly 3:00 PM, the examiners arrived at the venue. There was nothing like ‘African time.’ Everything was done pronto. We exchanged greetings, and they introduced themselves. The chairperson of the meeting, Prof. Dato’ Parid welcomed everyone and disclosed that the viva voce was going to be a closed session. Therefore, no questions will be entertained from the few audience that will be permitted to observe the session as stated in the rules and regulations of the university—most Malaysian Universities conduct their Viva in a similar manner. The audience were also not permitted to leave the venue until the end of the session.

The chair also mentioned that, I was given a maximum of forty minutes to present, and after that, they will proceed to a session of questions and answers, and they might stop me at any moment to ask for clarity as I go on with my presentation. It was also mentioned that after the session of question and answer, there would be an intermission where I would have to give the board of judges the privacy to deliberate and decide my faith.

I was given the green light to begin my presentation, which I began by acknowledging all observed protocol

Presentation proper, since I was only given forty minutes to present a 350 pages thesis, I made the examiners understand that I am of the opinion that they had already gone through my thesis and for that cause, I wouldn’t want to bore them with definitions, details and all whatnot. I went on to present with the aid of data visualisation (infographics). I completed my presentation in exactly thirty-five minutes! And I was commended for keeping to time as was instructed.

Question & Answer session

During the question and answer session, the first external examiner, an Associate Professor who has supervised more than 50 PhD candidates and has broad knowledge and unequivocal experience in my field started by appreciating me for keeping to the time. In his words, he said, “I must congratulate you for a comprehensive and interesting research, it is a job well done. I went through your thesis three good times, and your thesis is excellent and flawless!” ‘Excellent and Flawless,’ are the two best words that I will keep to heart for the rest of my life.

Saying all these good words scared the hell out of me, I said to my inner self, run Daha run Daha, surely after all this praise-singing he will grill me as I observed how he folded a lot of pages on my thesis. Another part of me is saying, he folded them just to clarify some of my findings. In my head, I believed it to be a nice way of making me comfortable before unleashing some tough questions. I didn’t let the praise get the better of me. As expected, he asked a lot of questions. The Q & A, rather “grilling session” lasted for almost 3 hours, but Alhamdulillah, I defended all and at the end, he was very impressed as he commended me for using infographics, which saved everyone's time and made it easy for them to understand my findings.

Beyond doubts, I was stunned when I discovered that the associate professor was so vast on information about Nigeria. He came with the map of Nigeria and had extensive knowledge of both the geographical and regional information of Nigeria. For example, in his words “on page 23, you claimed that there are four mobile service providers in Nigeria, my research shows otherwise” –I was shocked, but replied him that I was only referring to the popular GSM service providers specifically and not CDMA. Another Interesting question he asked was, “the northwestern region consist of seven states, why did your research cover only four out of the seven?

I was bewildered as he further made reference to some statistics related to Nigerian population—he was prepared! But Alhamdullilah, I was also overly prepared because I gave apt answers to his questions. The internal and second external examiners all asked questions as well which I answered.

I was then asked to leave for a break as they sit back to deliberate and decide on my result. That was when I became more nervous. I was nervous about the fact that I can’t place how the outcome will be and what corrections I will be told to make.

Verdict time

The chairperson, Professor Dato Parid welcomed me back after the break, he said: “We must congratulate you for a very composed and clear cut presentation, and the panel has decided that you have passed with a minor correction, congratulations. The panel is giving you a month to complete your corrections.” Viva ended with my closing remarks thanking the panel.

Post-Verdict Reactions

A lot of VIVA corrections could take up to two, three or even six months, Alhamdulillah, I completed mine in a day and ready as I am writing this, I am ready for final submission exactly nine days after my VIVA. All the pains are now gone, and I am so elated now that all has been replenished with happiness and contentment. I feel more fulfilled knowing that my thesis, after going through the scrutiny of four renowned and reputable experts in my field has been accepted and scored an excellent mark. All the days I spent preparing for this day, has rightly paid off, what more can I say? Alhamdullilah.

After learning about the verdict, I called my family who were very excited and happy for me and were already calling me ‘DAKTA’. The following day, I posted the news on my social media and was unable to keep count of comments and prayers. I thank you all. Penultimately and most importantly, the major takeaway from the Viva was the knowledge the Professor displayed about Nigeria; I learnt a vital lesson that as an examiner, you need to have the knowledge of what you are examining. “The man knew his onions.” Finally, despite unforgettable highs and low which came along with the journey, Alhamdulillah everything has been concluded successfully.

While preparing for my Viva, I really enjoyed reading other people’s stories, I do hope I this post help those who are starting their PhD journey or on the verge of Viva.