Lest We Forget

How great it is to be a student

After working with Ruby on Rails for a little over six years now, I recently got the opportunity to work on an iOS app professionally, and immediately jumped at the chance.

Of course, before I got started, I had some learning to do. I started to peruse through the relevant books on Amazon, articles on the web, and any resource I could find. Eventually, I came upon a StackOverflow article that recommended checking out a Stanford course available on iTunes U.

To my surprise, I found that there is an entire course on iOS development (almost 20 full lectures) in high quality audio and HD video available for free. I was amazed.

As I sat there listening to Professor Paul Hegarty lecture about a framework I knew very little about, I felt a surge of excitement and joy that I hadn’t felt in a really long time. Finally — I was learning again.

It reminded me of the expression on my students’ faces during my own lectures (I teach a course on web development with Ruby on Rails): wide-eyed and full of excitement.

It’s that magical feeling you get when you discover something completely new, profound and foreign.

I almost forgot what that feeling was like. I missed it.

Today, I find myself being a student at work by day, and a teacher at school by night. I’m thankful for the opportunity, and enjoying every minute while it lasts.

Too often we find ourselves content with our own knowledge and experience with the frameworks and technologies we’re so used to. We forget what brought us here in the first place — the drive to learn.

Let’s remember those moments where we found ourselves completely blown away, and let’s use them to strive for more.

Lest we forget how great it is to be a student.