Ever dreamt of doing a Ph.D.? No? Me too.
I did however dream of doing fundamental research. In today's world, until you go through the conventional "academic path", you would not be taken seriously. This is a problem. Not to say that it doesn't have its advantages, but we can argue on that another day. Anyhow, this "path" begins with a Ph.D. degree. However, there are stringent pre-requisites to get into one (will perhaps write about it in another post).
So you somehow land into a Ph.D. programme, say in theoretical physics. This is a miracle in itself. You'd know this if you're me, or one of my peers, or the innumerable folks trying to get to do theoretical work.
The first thing that you'd typically face is a bunch of coursework. This is just a fancy name for a repetition of most of your M.Sc. courses. There's an exam you need to take at the end of it, similar to your innocent postgraduate days, and you must try to do really well in one or two specialized courses, which aim to make you specialized, or in the least prepare you to be specialized.
Say you're the person who got a supervisor allotted to you before you began your coursework. That's a big load off your chest, since your performance in the last major conventional exam of your life would not matter, right?. WRONG! Be prepared to survive the constant subtextual threats of being dropped as a mentee if you mess up. If nothing else, you do learn how to be an ethical researcher (a skill that's rather uncommon in the academic scene today).
If, however, an advisor is allotted post the coursework, no worries! Just work hard and focus all your energy on the examination, and you'll be sure to be conjoined with your preferred advisor on the basis of good old pure merit. Unfortunately, by the time you get out of this delusional state, you'd have missed out on much of first year fun, namely learning actual physics, having a life, and scheming behind your peers' backs, only to find out that your favorite advisor has been taken away by a lesser being who's yielded rather nefarious means quite masterfully. But if you do manage to get out of this illusion of "fairness" early on, congratulations! You will have landed yourself your desired advisor, or rather supervisor (as would be evident at the end of the following year). For legal reasons and otherwise, I do not condone nefarious means!
And then things straighten out a lot. No matter whether or not you get your dream advisor and field of work, you'll witness a paradigm shift in your daily activities. The shift from books and notes to research papers and group meetings would be quite exciting and overwhelming at the beginning. This would be strongly accompanied by doubt and bewilderness. I assure you, you'll have plenty of opportunity in the future to harbour self-doubt and depression, please do not waste it all at this stage. You'd also be surprised how quickly you start learning and picking up things, not just academically, but socially. This line of work is a very social one, a contrary picture of which is often assumed and presented to non-practitioners. This is the stage where you will continue being a nerd, and at the same time become your own salesperson, and I do mean the charming kind lest you won't make any sales. Again for legal reasons and otherwise, I do not condone selling fake and fraudulent goods!
I've perhaps painted a rather chaotic picture. I do not regret it. It is chaotic. And for good reason. It prepares you well for what lies ahead in academia, and for life. It's not everyone's cup of tea, or coffee, if that's your poison. If you are going to decide whether to accept a Ph.D. offer based on this post, I can only say this: you have to develop a thick skin, not be one to drop dead at the slightest of setbacks, and know exactly why you want a Ph.D. (spoiler: desire to merely get the 'Dr.' title is the worst reason of them all).
All in all, the year comes to an end, sooner than you expect, and now you get the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want (*cries in freedom*).