I Went to Teach. I Left as the Student.

I joined a WordPress cohort as an instructor.

I left having learned more than anyone in the room.

Jonathan was explaining how PHP processes form submissions. Questions came. I started answering them.

That’s when something shifted.

To answer clearly, I had to think clearly. Listen first. Understand what was actually being asked. Then answer. Then check if it even landed.

Most questions have more than one answer. Sometimes the right move is to say “I don’t know” and point somewhere better. That’s not weakness. That’s honesty.

But here’s what got me.

I learned more about PHP in that one session than in months of using it alone.

Teaching forced me to explain what I had only ever felt my way through. The things I “knew” but couldn’t articulate? Those got exposed. Quietly. In front of everyone.

There’s learning that happens alone, at your desk, in silence.

And then there’s the kind that happens when someone asks “but why does it work that way?”

The second one sticks.

If you want to really understand something, find someone to explain it to.