It was about 1 AM in the night. I suddenly realized that I have to turn in my assignment the next day. The professor of that course is known to have attached a lot of importance to assignments and it is also reflected in his grading. Reluctantly, I opened the assignment to solve the problems. The problems in this assignment and the concepts involved in these problems appear vaguely familiar but unsolvable. I tried using the JEE tricks of writing down the question and formulae to see if I could think of solutions. It doesn't help. Finally, I give up. Next day, before the class I ran to my friends room and copied the assignment, added few diagrams, skipped some steps and scribbled some made up nonsense wherever possible. I could submit the assignment on time and me and my friend managed to get same marks.

   It is again 1AM in night. Now, I am no longer a student. I now work for a MNC which pays me for my work. I have to incorporate an important feature in our code. No one seems to have solved the problem before. I have been working on it since morning but to no avail. Google deserted me when I needed it the most. All my peers and colleagues in the company must have slept by now. I don't have much choice now. I look at what others in the company have done. I refer to the company documentation. Finally, I give up. I go to office very early the next day, take help from my senior colleague and check in the code.
   This, I think is the first major difference you observe when you do a transition from college life to corporate life. You will not have 10 books which tell you what needs to be done to solve the problem. You cannot take the short cuts. Last minute efforts never work. Your colleagues are not your peers. It teaches you to be more organized. It compels you to present yourself better. Finally, you will know that your past achievements don't mean anything in the real world. It is always about what you are doing now and how you are doing it.