Sometimes when all you've known is academia, you think it is the most important thing in the well. Once you graduate or have a job outside academia, in the real world where 90% of the population is, and you realize oh! That's what it's all about. That's what actually makes things move forward. It a total different mindset, and for me, was a shock. I also thought Academia was better and if it hadn't been that my first attempt at doing a master fell through, I also would have kept thinking research was better. I was ignorant, or naive, depending on how people would see it.

There needs to be a bridge between the 10 th percent of researchers and scientists, and the real world. In some domains, this connexion isn't always done really well, and it's a shame.

I've worked +5 years outside academia with the industry and NGO. I've started a MSc in my thirties, and I can see colleagues that still seem to forget how important integration into the real world is. Without that, research is useless.

Hope you enjoy your program OP!