On Teachers and Students
This past week, social media in Israel has been full of touching and inspiring posts.
Praises for extraordinary teachers who were forever remembered by their students.
But what about the opposite???
We rarely hear about that side of the story…
No, I’m not speaking about bad teachers.
I’m talking about students who are an inspiration to their teachers.
This recent trend reminded me of one of those stories.
It’s a story that taught me humility — and filled me with pride.
Once Upon a Time in the City of Tel-Aviv…
About a decade ago I was a teacher and a mentor in the Experis Academy bootcamp.
An intensive 6 months course, from morning till night. People joined the course after pursuing other careers with no knowledge of programming; they ended it with a wide toolbox and impressive abilities. I usually met most of the students in the last month of the course, which I was teaching. Few made it through the first five months; those who did, entered my class when they were already equipped with rich knowledge. I was occasionally asked to interview mid-term students in order to prepare them for job interviews. Some impressed me, some less so. I’ve always tried to focus on the potential, and my feedback focused on suggestions for improvement and leveraging the specific strengths of each student.
In one of those cases, there was a young woman full of energy who had started the course a few months earlier. It’s not that she gave wrong answers — she was just completely off track. This wasn’t just a temporary blackout — it was a real, serious gap in understanding the domain.
At some point I stopped the interview.
Not an action I usually took, but I felt that this was the fairest thing in that circumstance.
I was honest with her about what I saw. I explained the situation to her and the fact that the second half of the course is much more complex.
That conversation really shook her.
But she did not give up.
A few weeks later, she made it to my class to the final part of the course.
On that very day I saw that she was understanding faster than anyone else and asking the most intelligent questions. It was hard to believe that this is the same student… At the first opportunity, I approached her and asked what happened during the last two months. She told me that after the talk, she realized she had to change course. From that moment on, she pulled in her cousin — an experienced programmer — and wouldn’t leave her alone. Every evening, every weekend, she spent every moment sitting with her, learning and practicing. She decided that she could not afford to do less than the possible maximum.
And she truly made it, big time.
She’s one of the most talented alumnae to ever finish the course, and with such a great determination and capacity for growth, nothing can stop her.
For me, she’s a real inspiration.