ABSTRACT
There were four people in the room. I sat at a large table with my back to the door; my external examiner was to my left, and my internal examiner was to my right. My supervisor, present at my invitation, was behind me, slightly to my right and out of my line of vision. She had no active role to play; she didn’t speak throughout the entire two-hour period, and honestly, after the first few moments I forgot she was there.
