Learning is a life-long process. I have held this motto ever since I decided to pursue higher level education. With time, life and experiences of my own and others, it further strengthens my resolve to keep and maintain this motto as my main pillar. I truly believe, we as a person should always strive to gain as much knowledge as possible until the last breath. However, just gaining and collecting knowledge is not enough. We must also share the knowledge. We must never be stingy of the knowledge that we have. The stingier you are, the lesser the possibility of the knowledge to stay with you. Becoming a lecturer or educator helps me fulfil my goals of gaining as much knowledge as possible and sharing it with others.

Becoming a lecturer is not an easy process for me. My degree is in the field of science, specifically chemistry while the higher degree of master’s and PhD is on full research with the focus towards materials production for various applications. In what part of my study is related to teaching? NONE. Yet, throughout my master’s and PhD years, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a research group, where discussions among peers are frequently conducted, both formally and informally. From these discussions, I learned that each of us have different backgrounds, point of views, experiences, expertise and personalities. Then, I realized, through these discussions, we are actually learning from one another. From there, I try to cultivate a both formal and informal way of learning and sharing. Between peers, the process of learning and sharing is much informal both of us believe that we are on the same level. But of course, there is always specific fields that my peers are expert of thus when learning from them, I always wear my learner cap’s on. Between me and the juniors, the learning and sharing process is much formal. I need to truly brush up my knowledge when I am trying to teach my juniors about something.

Now I am a lecturer, the teaching process is much more formal. Building up from what I have learn during my master’s and PhD years, the process of teaching is much formal. Now, I am teaching the undergraduate. More preparation is needed, and various factors need to be considered. The students’ year of education, number of students, and others.  Lesson plan is very important when I am teaching the students. A good and appropriate lesson plan will help both me and the students. Me in terms of the teaching materials and assessment preparation and the students in terms of understanding the topics better. It is also important to keep an open mind where there may be certain areas that I am lacking in. I believe that the students should express what they feel about my teaching methods and I should be open to constructive criticism. The students’ point of view will help me in improving my teaching skills.

I have learned through my formal education years and small experience in teaching, it is important for me to have and maintain the connection that I have created. I am fortunate enough that most of my peers during my master’s and PhD years are in contact. We still discuss with each other from time-to-time to update each other knowledge and collaborate for future research. We may be in different places, but our aim is still the same where we strive to gain and share the knowledge that we have. With the students, continuous communication even after they graduated is also important for me as I believe they can soar higher than me and there is always something to be learned from them. Besides maintaining the connection that I have, it is also important to widen the circle of connections, and this can be achieved by involving in various activities such as participating conferences, be part of professional bodies and joining scientific exhibitions and competitions.