I’ve always considered myself to be someone who has a passion for learning, and that is one of the biggest reasons I pursued this degree. Throughout the degree I had the opportunity to work as an undergraduate learning assistant for two quarters and this experience made me realize that I also really enjoy helping others learn as well.

This quarter I decided that I would explore my passion for teaching others and serve as a private tutor online, helping students with coding concepts. I have focused primarily on assisting students to increase their understanding of data structures and algorithms and I’m currently tutoring two students in this class. The reason I chose this area of focus is because in the modern world with DS&A heavy interview processes, building this knowledge is one of the most important areas for job seekers to learn.

Throughout my short tenure I’ve already gained a great appreciation for different student learning styles. Since I am helping students with their assignments I make sure that I am guiding their understanding and not just giving them answers. Learning how to ask students to explain their code and how they think it works and then asking probing questions to guide them to a more suitable approach when they are misdirected has been the skill I have developed the most. There are few things more satisfying then watching and seeing a student be able to suddenly have that “aha” moment where the concept clicks and they are able to arrive at the correct approach to a complex problem.

Another key skill I have learned is the ability to encourage students when they are feeling stuck or like they will never be able to understand the concept. Since I was in their position only a year ago I empathize with them and walk them through my journey to provide encouragement. I’ve found many students (myself included) often feel like everybody else understand the concept more easily than them so they might not be cut out for a software development career. I often remind them that unlike other fields, learning computer science concepts is almost never a linear process. By that I mean you may understand the concept 90% after 9 hours, but to understand the remaining ten percent it may take 20 extra hours of work to gain 10% understanding, and that’s perfectly normal and okay.

Overall tutoring has been an excellent experience that has brought me not only immense level of personal fulfillment but also enabled me to further increase my own technical skills as well. I hope to continue tutoring in the future and continue to help others who are in the position I was when I began this program. I credit a lot of my own success to the work of those around me to encourage me throughout the program and empathize with me when I have felt like giving up. I think that the helpful community is one of the greatest advantages that the Post Bacc program has when compared to other online programs.