Learning by Teaching

I have helped others with piano, and it has taught me that knowing how to play something is very different from knowing how to explain it. Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what another person is not yet hearing.

The same piece can make sense to me in one way and to someone else in another.

When I help someone with movement, I have to think about more than the movement itself. A correction that makes sense to me may not make sense to someone else. I have learned to pay attention to how people understand instructions, not just whether they can follow them.

Sometimes the problem is not the movement, but the way it is being understood.

Taekwondo taught me that repeating a movement is not always enough. Sometimes a small change in balance or explanation makes a difference. Teaching has made me more aware of those small differences.

Two people can repeat the same movement and need completely different things to improve it.

As a math teacher's assistant, I have learned that getting the right answer and understanding why it is right are not the same thing. Two students can make the same mistake for completely different reasons. That is what makes teaching interesting to me.

A wrong answer does not always tell me what someone does not understand.

In MUN, I have also learned to help others build an argument and respond to others when a discussion takes an unexpected turn. I enjoy the moments when someone stops repeating an idea and starts making it their own.

For me, the most interesting moment is when an explanation becomes someone else’s idea.