As a person who has shifted schools three times, been to virtual lessons during covid, and has
had numerous tutors which included my mother and father, I have been exposed to many
different teaching styles throughout my life. When you start harbouring a greater interest in the
topics taught by one specific person, you can’t help but wonder whether that is a coincidence or
because a good teacher can turn seemingly daunting topics into something that you actually
want to learn more about. I believe the latter is the case and that is why I wanted to help out
students on the same path as me and applied to be a teaching assistant for Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering courses. I got rejected on my first try but persistent paid off and this
semester I finally got my first job as a TA for Chemical Process Principles (ChBE 2100)
Since ChBE 2100 is an introductory Chemical and Biomolecular engineering course, when I
step into my role as a teaching assistant, I do not feel like I am just helping students get through
assignments or office hours. I feel like I am standing at the very beginning of their chemical
engineering journey, in the place where first impressions are formed and where confidence is
either built or lost. Since this is the course where engineering begins, it carries a weight that I
feel every time I teach. This class is where students first learn how to think like chemical
engineers. It is where balances, assumptions, and systems begin to make sense as parts of one
larger logic. But because it is an introduction, it is also where students can feel the most
overwhelmed. Everything is unfamiliar at once. The language is new, the way of thinking is new,
and often the intimidation sets in before understanding has a chance to.
That is exactly why I love teaching it!
What draws me to teaching is not simply the subject itself, but the realization that the most
complex topics are often only difficult until they are explained correctly and layer-by-layer. I keep
coming back to one belief: almost everything can be broken down until it becomes intuitive.
What looks dense and technical from a distance usually becomes manageable once it is
stripped into smaller, clearer pieces. And when that happens, the fear around the concept
disappears. What once felt impossible starts to feel simple, logical, and sometimes even fun.
That is the part of teaching I love the most. I love taking a problem that feels huge to someone
and unpacking it slowly enough that they can see what is really happening underneath. A
material balance is no longer just an equation. It becomes a story of what enters, what leaves,
and what changes. A process flow diagram is no longer another scary image that you need to
memorize. It becomes a stepping stool that you want to use to better visualize the process. A
difficult question is no longer proof that someone is not good at the subject. It is just a puzzle
with a few more pieces waiting to be arranged in the right order.
In my office hours, I try to make that process feel alive. I do not want them to be stiff or
intimidating. I want them to feel engaging, open, and collaborative. Students come in with
confusion, hesitation, and sometimes the assumption that their question is too basic to ask. I try
to create the opposite atmosphere. I want questions. I want pauses. I want the moment where
we stop rushing and actually sit with the idea long enough for it to click. I always tell my students
that struggling is just a form of strengthening so it is okay to not know what to do when you look
at a question for the first time. What is not okay is giving up because it “looks too scary”. Sit with
it. Speak your mind. Even if it is completely wrong it is not a waste of time or effort since you get
to ask why that particular approach does not work and knowing that will improve your
understanding.
That is why my office hours often stretch far beyond what anyone expects. Sometimes they go
on for as long as three hours. There is something special about staying with a concept until it
transforms in front of you. One question leads to another, one explanation opens a different
path, and what begins as uncertainty slowly turns into confidence. The room changes when that
happens. Students begin leaning in more. They start answering their own questions halfway
through asking them. They begin explaining concepts back in their own words. Suddenly,
confusion starts to look like momentum.
I think that is what teaching means to me in its purest form. It is not about presenting information
in the most sophisticated way possible. It is not even about covering the syllabus end to end. It
is about making understanding feel accessible. It is to let people know that their inability to
understand a concept is not because it is too hard for them, but perhaps because it was not
communicated to them in an effective way. It is about noticing exactly where the confusion
begins and then finding the most human way through it. Sometimes that means drawing the
system differently. Sometimes it means starting from first principles. Sometimes it means
stepping away from equations for a second and just asking, “What is physically happening
here?” Once that foundation is clear, everything else follows more naturally.
Since Chemical Process Principles is the intro CHBE course, it matters even more. This is not
just another class in the sequence. It is the course that shapes how students first experience
chemical engineering. It teaches them not only the fundamental content, but mindset. It teaches
them whether they see engineering as something impossibly abstract or as something
structured, learnable, and even enjoyable. Being part of that early stage feels incredibly
meaningful to me.
What I find myself loving most is that teaching changes the energy around learning. It turns
panic into curiosity. It turns confusion into conversation. It turns “I do not get this at all” into
“Wait, now this actually makes sense.” That transformation is what keeps me engaged every
time I walk into office hours or help explain a concept. It reminds me that understanding is rarely
about intelligence alone. More often, it is about clarity, patience, and the willingness to break
something down until it finally feels intuitive. I always tell my students if they are willing to put in
the effort and struggle from their end, I will put in the same effort and ensure they grasp the
most difficult of concepts taught in lecture.
This first job as a TA shows me, every day, why I care so much about teaching. It shows me that
difficult subjects do not have to stay difficult. When explained the right way, they become
approachable. They become logical. They become fun. And when students begin to see that for
themselves, they are not just learning engineering. They are learning that they are capable of
understanding whatever they set their mind to, no matter how far out of reach it feels.
