“The more we teach, the more expert we become”


A Story about Muhammad Furqan, Senior Software Engineer - Android at Tokopedia, Bangkit 2022 Contributor
“To teach is to learn twice over.”
(Joseph Joubert, French Essayist)
Joseph Joubert’s quote above seems to resonate with Muhammad Furqan's (27) vision of teaching. Since Furqan―that’s what he called―was an Informatics Student at Universitas Syiah Kuala, he has had a passion for education because of the value he holds the most in his life. Served as Laboratory Assistant on his campus once, Furqan believes that someone who reaped the most benefits from teaching is the teacher itself because the best method of learning is by teaching.

Anyone Can Be a Teacher and a Learner


Furqan is a Senior Software Engineer - Android at Tokopedia who has been familiar with Bangkit since 2021. He heard about this information from an Android engineer group in his office. Then his superior announced an opportunity for employees to contribute to Bangkit as an instructor. Considering teaching is one of his life’s callings, Furqan wanted to register.
“My working environment holds on to the value of a growth mindset. It taught me that anyone can be a teacher or learner. That means no matter how little knowledge you have, you still need to share your knowledge. Then, no matter how much knowledge you possess, you still need to listen.”
After grabbing an opportunity to teach in Bangkit, Furqan was instantly smitten with this program because of its capstone project. Furqan saw that Bangkit’s capstone project wasn’t an assignment that the cohorts merely needed to work on and finish. There were understandable steps in establishing this project from scratch till becoming a potentially developing future startup.

Therefore, it was exhilarating when the capstone team mentored by Furqan, FitVerse, managed to get into the Bangkit 2022 Top 50. The opportunity for students to implement their learning inputs to capstone projects is something that Furqan sees as Bangkit’s point of difference.

3 Key Points for Becoming an Android Expert


As a person with abundant experience in Android, Furqan wanted to share three critical points for becoming an Android expert:

#1 Master English Skill

Furqan appreciated Bangkit for familiarizing everyone involved in the program to speak English.
“English skills mastery is essential for working in a tech environment, especially in a leading company. This is because much important information is delivered in the office using English. Furthermore, some employees in a leading tech company come from abroad.”

#2 Gain More Experience


You can't rely on the memorization method to have a good grasp of essential pieces of knowledge in Android. Instead, you must gain more experience to make those insights into your brain.
“Enrich your experience before starting your tech career in Android by working on many projects or creating an app by yourself. Bountiful experience plays a critical role in kick-starting tech career.”

#3 Comfort Zone is a Dangerous Zone

Technology is ever-evolving. Therefore, the comfort zone is dangerous for you to stay in for too long.
“You must be eager to explore new things in the Android. You can’t be stuck in one place and be comfortable there for the rest of your life. No matter how experienced you are, a tech expert must learn something new daily.”

Teaching as the Best Way of Learning


Not just cohorts reaped the benefits from Bangkit because Furqan felt he became a party that also gained much in this program. As an Android Engineer, he acquired the latest information about Android development from its creator, Google.

Moreover, in Furqan’s opinion, the most insightful session he went through in Bangkit was the mentoring session with the capstone project team. He learned a lot from the cross-departmental cohort, which made him familiar with Cloud Computing and Machine Learning.

Furthermore, Furqan felt lucky to be paired with a mentor from a business background. It opened his eyes to create an app that is not only impactful but also profitable in terms of business. In addition, he gained a lot of understanding from his mentees and peers.
“To experience the best way of learning through teaching, I highly recommend all tech experts to contribute to Bangkit because no matter how skilled we think we are, there are always plenty of new things to learn. We can thrive here.”
Besides that, Furqan thought Bangkit was the best place for tech experts to improve their English skills. As Furqan said, English is essential in tech, primarily if we work in an international tech company.

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