Most of times, life feels like a continuous process going from one point in time to the next in a smooth fashion. However, there are several points in time when this smooth flow is broken and one has to go through very discontinuous jumps or phase transitions. These transitions bring in many unforeseen challenges which one is usually not well prepared to handle. These jumps can be heart-wrenching for those who are unable to handle the new situations, but can also be a great opportunity for others who were lagging behind in the previous phase of life. There are many people who do well in the early stages of life but loose out over time, and one of the main reasons for this is their inability to maintain success across various phase transitions. We should not assume that what made us successful in one phase of life will naturally lead to success in the next phase. It is very important to prepare ourselves accordingly and acquire new skills as and when required. In life outside college, these phase transitions can be quite unpredictable and so that much harder to be prepared for. But within the academic system, these phase transitions are actually quite well defined upto the senior professional level.
The first phase transition comes after 10th, when most good students are expected to start working towards cracking a professional examination at the end of their 12th class. Then the next phase transition is from 12th to college life, where often there is too much freedom than what one can handle. For most people, academic life ends with a bachelors or masters degree but for those who choose to pursue a PhD, thats another huge academic phase transition. A PhD is nothing like usual academics pursuits and requires a totally different approach. Most people who complete a PhD naturally look for faculty positions, but are again seldom aware of the totally new set of challenges it brings along! We will take these four major academic phase transitions one by one and try to analyse how one can be well prepared to handle these.
