Reaping Benefits of Contributing to Bangkit


A Story about Yehezkiel Gunawan, Front-End Engineer at Bobobox, Bangkit 2022 Contributor
“Be involved; be informed. Make meaningful contributions to society through service and involvement.”
(M. Russel Ballard, American Businessman)
Who says that the act of giving only benefits the receiver? Giving his best dedication as an instructor from last year to Bangkit, Yehezkiel Gunawan (24) instead became someone who received a lot from his contributions. Teaching in Bangkit made Yehez―that’s what he called―encourage students to grow and successfully develop himself.

Starting his teaching journey by becoming a lab assistant who was a bit stiff when talking, Yehez now is an instructor for a considerable educational program initiated by Google, with excellent communication skills. This is the story of Yehez.

Everyone Has a Different Learning Approach


Since he was in college, Yehez has been involved in teaching activities. He started his journey as a Laboratory Assistant, who almost has the same role as a teaching assistant. There were many reasons behind Yehez's willingness to teach.

By teaching, Yehez learned many things. First, conveying learning materials to his juniors made him see the old figure of himself. When he was a junior, he also had his own pace of learning. So, Yehez understood that each student has their learning speed.
“Then, teaching taught me that everyone has a different learning approach. It inspired me to apply teaching methods that suit my students.”
Therefore, when Yehez saw the opportunity to contribute to Bangkit 2021, he was moved to participate. Even though Yehez had already graduated and worked as a Front-End Engineer at MacroAd, he still put his heart into signing himself up for this program. One of his seniors also encouraged him, who also teaches in Bangkit.


Equipped with his experience developing the KAI Access app, which has now been useful for many people, Yehez dedicated his time to Bangkit by being Advisor for Cloud Computing (CC) path and Instructor for several soft skills classes. Moreover, he also mentored OBUCE, one of the Top 15 Capstone Project teams.

When Yehez shifted his career to Bobobox as Front-End Engineer, he decided to contribute again this year. He accepted his duty as CC Instructor. In addition, he also took back his role as a mentor for the capstone project this year.

Teaching in Bangkit Accelerates Self-Ability


Yehez felt the difference between teaching in Bangkit 2021 and 2022. Last year, Yehez had to manage everything himself in Google Classroom. This year, Yehez’s duty became lighter because of the Facilitators. As a result, coordination and teaching have become smoother for busy instructors like him.

The Facilitators also provided Yehez with an overview of each class situation. This lets Yehez know what teaching method to use in a particular class. In addition, they complement Yehez during the question-and-answer session.

Even though he had to put in enough effort while teaching in Bangkit, Yehez admitted he learned a lot from this experience. He became good at communicating with more knowledge about CC.
“Teaching in Bangkit accelerates my self-ability. I used to be a bit stiff in speaking, but now I have better communication skills. My increased knowledge about CC was also influential in my workplace. When a cloud system problem occurred, I could handle it myself first before asking the Cloud Engineer for help.”
Besides accelerating his personal growth, Yehez often heard good news after teaching in Bangkit. He was proud when his students successfully graduated and worked at well-known Bangkit partner industries such as GoTo and Traveloka. However, his heart was full to see that his students could thrive as better versions of themselves.

3 Takeaways for Students to Thrive in the Tech Realm


Yehez shared three essential points for his students if they want to thrive and kick start their careers in technology.

#1 Be More Active in the Question & Answer (Q&A) Sessions

For Yehez, actively participating in Q&A sessions stimulates students’ thinking process. For that reason, Yehez hoped that his students would take advantage of learning in class by asking questions.
“When a person starts to ask, it shows that they are thinking. This made sense when everything that is discovered in this world started with the word ‘Why?’”

#2 Make Time for Self-Study

According to Yehez, learning by only relying on Bangkit classes or lectures is not enough. Instead, they have to broaden their horizons by devoting 30-60 minutes a day to studying by themselves. In this self-taught session, they can strengthen their fundamentals or review material that has been learned before.
“You may have a great mentor or instructor who teaches you in the classroom, but you need to notice that transformation must happen inside out. First, it starts from the inner part of yourself; then you need to implement it to the reality.”

#3 Enrich Portfolio, Pay Attention to Details

The last point Yehez wants to emphasize is that his students have to enrich their portfolios and pay attention to details. Creating projects enhances the value of their portfolio, and paying attention to more information is the essential quality a tech talent must-have. Both of these can bridge students with new opportunities.
“Excellence means paying attention to details.”
Having such a meaningful experience in Bangkit pushed Yehez to invite all tech experts and educators to contribute to this program.
“My lecturer once said that the coding skill possessed by engineers is something basic and ordinary. They will have more value if they are good at utilizing soft skills and willing to spread their knowledge.”
Therefore, Yehez wants his fellow IT experts to dedicate their time to teaching in an educational program that embraces students from all over Indonesia, such as Bangkit.

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