🎓 From Fullstack to the Classroom — Notes on a Teaching Journey and Leaving a Legacy

This journey didn't start in a classroom.
It started in the professional world.

In 2022, I first worked as a Fullstack Engineer, while simultaneously starting my university studies without a gap year. My days and nights were filled with code, deadlines, and industrial demands. At that time, it never crossed my mind that I would one day stand in front of a class and teach.

But everything changed in 2023.

🌱 Semester 3 — First Time Teaching, First Time Feeling "This is Me"

In Semester 3, I made a rather bold decision:
to become a Laboratory Assistant for Basic Algorithms & Programming.

This was my first teaching experience.

There's one moment that still sticks with me today:
I was teaching while skipping another course for an entire semester😂 because the schedules clashed. I was fully aware of the risks — but at that time, I chose teaching.

And the students' expressions when they found out...
their eyes widened. Not out of admiration, but out of confusion:

"How can someone choose teaching over attending their own class?"

That's when the sense of being an educator emerged.

I enjoyed:

• their expressions when a concept finally "clicked",

• the satisfaction when a simple explanation made an algorithm feel logical,

• the happiness of seeing them understand, not just memorize.

It was a feeling that... honestly, is hard to match.

What I Did

• Taught programming basics: data types, variables, control structures, data structures.

• Trained logic and problem-solving skills.

• Provided assessments and evaluations of basic algorithms.

🧠 Semester 4 — Data Structures and the Challenge of Simplifying the Complex

Entering Semester 4, I returned to teaching. This time, the material leveled up:
Data Structures & Algorithms.

The challenge here was no longer what to teach, but how to explain it.

Topics like:

• Stack

• Queue

• Linked List

are easy to memorize, but hard to understand without real-world context.

I started asking myself:

"How can I make this material relevant to the industry?"

So I began:

• relating stacks to call stacks in the backend,

• explaining queues through real-world queuing systems,

• teaching through live coding, analogies, and even small games.

My hope was simple:
if they ever forget the theory later, the logic would still remain.

🗄️ Semester 5 — Database, SQL, and Knowledge Too Valuable to Miss

In Semester 5, I taught Database Systems.

My reason was clear and very personal:
while working as a Software Engineer, I realized SQL is gold — but it's often underestimated on campus.

There are many things rarely touched upon seriously:

• CASCADE

• VIEW

• TRANSACTION

• GROUP BY & HAVING

Yet in the industry, these are exactly what frequently appear.

I didn't want them to just know:

"SELECT * FROM table"

I wanted them to understand why a query can be dangerous, expensive, or powerful.

In this class, I did a lot of:

• one-on-one mentoring,

• dissecting query errors together,

• and explaining databases as the foundation of data science & system design.

🌉 Semester 6 — Teaching 50 Students, Data Structures, and Life Analogies

In Semester 6, I returned to Data Structures, but with a new cohort (Class of '24).

The difference?

• I was much more confident.

• I was bolder in using everyday life analogies.

• I even made my first content for TikTok, reaching 80,000 views.

• I taught 50 people in one class.

This wasn't just a presentation.
This was teaching.

Topics like Graphs were explained through:

• social media algorithms,

• relationships between users,

• how "we are recommended friends".

It felt different. Larger. Heavier. But also more meaningful.

🚀 Semester 7 — GitHub Classroom and the Legacy I Want to Leave

In Semester 7, I taught two classes simultaneously:

• Web-Based Programming

• Object-Oriented Programming

This was when I made an important decision:
to use GitHub Classroom.

It wasn't just a tool.
It was a legacy.

The challenge was immense:

• students in Semesters 3 & 5 had never been taught Git/GitHub before,

• the material was vital but often skipped,

• it felt overwhelming at first.

But gradually:

• they became accustomed to repositories,

• started understanding version control,

• learned collaboration,

• and got to know industry standards early on.

I realize they might forget my name someday.
But if one day they say:

"I'm glad I was taught GitHub back then..."

That would be enough.

I hope this becomes:

• a long-term asset,

• knowledge that keeps flowing,

• and hopefully... a charity that never ceases (amal jariyah).

🧾 Closure — Teaching is Not About Me, But About Impact

From semester to semester, one thing has become clearer to me:

Teaching isn't about being smart.
It's about caring.

Caring if they understand.
Caring if this knowledge is relevant.
Caring if what we teach will be useful after graduation.

I'm not a permanent lecturer.
I'm nobody.

I'm just someone who has worked in the industry,
while also being a student,
and who wants to leave something meaningful behind.

If one day this legacy is still being used,
then all that exhaustion...
was worth it.