Why I Stopped Teaching Programming After 3 Years: A Developer’s Journey

Three years ago, I was checking my LinkedIn profile. There was an offer, but as developers, we know how it works — the offers are polished, and they call us the best fit for the project. So, I didn’t pick the first offer because I know the process.

However, one offer was interesting: “Hey Thomas, would you like to teach newcomers programming?” So I answered, not expecting that they would actually give me an offer.

I wasn’t teaching full-time, but on weekends and sometimes in the evenings.

I never intended to be a teacher

Teaching is hard because it needs to be both challenging and easy at the same time. You don’t want to go too fast or too slow.

You need to vary your voice, or the students will fall asleep. I knew this wasn’t for me, but I made one decision: If you can explain something, then you truly understand it.

So, I wanted to test my skills.

I was surprised

Even the easiest topic was extremely hard for me to explain. I knew how it worked, but explaining it was a different challenge. Also, I was monotonous — really monotonous. I needed to practice a little.