From a local lecturer to an international doctoral researcher: a journey into the international academic world

Transitioning to postgraduate studies is not my doctoral research topic. Rather, it is a long-term, chaotic lived experience that I constantly reflect on during my academic journey. This paper presents a reflective narrative of my transition from a lecturer in Vietnam into an international doctoral researcher in Australia and how the journey is shaped by the complexities of personal, institutional, local, and global variables inherent in the experience. Specifically, I begin with the story of myself as a lecturer in Vietnam, which reveals the commitments, opportunities, and constraints that I had and the driving force and challenges behind my decision to pursue international doctoral research. I will then account for how I prepared for this transition and realized my goal to become an international researcher. However, any choice has gains and losses, and new freedom, opportunities and challenges are part of the doctoral experience I will share next. As the journey goes, I see how my international research experience is linked back to my lecturer experience that I value and the direction I am heading into international academia. I believe that by reflecting on this academic journey, I am able to reveal how and why my professional identity is transformed and how such transformation could contribute to the reshaping of the international academic world. It could also provide prospective postgraduate researchers with an overview of the pathways they may enter; supervisors and postgraduate research degree providers with implications for best facilitating postgraduate research students in their academic endeavours.