Insights, ideas, and stories

  • Student profile: Kevin Hsu

    Name: Kevin Hsu Location: Hong Kong Age: 21 Job title: Full-time student It’s stressful to have to declare a major when you haven’t decided what you want to do with your life But that’s how colleges work so at some point during the sophomore or junior year, everyone who hasn’t already settled on a career...

  • From humble beginnings to a promising career path

    Yuto Morita’s life was very different just a few years ago, and he wasn’t feeling good about his future He struggled with traditional education and didn’t go to college “I’m not the type of person who can study,” Yuto explains After graduating high school, he worked blue-collar jobs in Tokyo on a...

  • Student profile: Tina Ferguson

    Name: Tina Ferguson Location: Plano, TX Age: 47 Job title: Business consultant Tina Ferguson has spent her career coaching other people and helping their businesses succeed, but she’s also smart enough to recognize when she’s the one who can learn something Tina’s consulting work focuses on helping...

  • Student profile: Rodrigo Tasca

    Name:  Rodrigo Tasca Location: Brooklyn, NY Age: 29 Job title: Video producer For much of his life, you’d have been more likely to find Rodrigo Tasca in a kitchen than behind a camera He worked in the hospitality industry at a top resort, at a catering company, and, most recently, as a private chef in New...

  • Student profile: Marco Almeida

    Name: Marco Aurelio Viana Almeida Location: João Pessoa, Brazil Age: 38 years Job title or function: Founder and CEO @ appscgcom What an amazing time to be alive, when a successful lawyer ditches his career to develop mobile apps! That’s just what Marco Aurelio Viana Almeida did, and he’s never looked...

  • Student profile: Marc Newhard

    Name: Marc Newhard Location: Denver, CO, USA Age: 33 Job title: Resident engineer level II A college degree is expensive, and not everyone has the means to pay for one or the stomach to go into debt for one That includes many individuals like Marc Newhard who are plenty smart and ambitious and deserve...

  • Student profile: Myla Twillie

    Name: Myla Twillie Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA Age: 39 Job title: Freelance writer, bartender Myla Twillie calls herself “a life student” because she’s been known to sign up for a class and then lose herself in learning for an extended period “Every time I start something in life, that’s my...

  • Student profile: Jason Kries

    Name: Jason Kries Location: Milford, NJ Age: 34 Job title: Educational technology coordinator/Technology integration specialist It’s always cool when Udemy students pay forward what they’ve learned in our marketplace to help others learn Jason Kries, a former classroom teacher himself, loves gaining new...

  • Student profile: Chris Backofen

    Name: Chris Backofen Location: New York Age: 28 Job title: CEO, CastCloud It was on the set of “The Wolf of Wall Street” that a new business idea hatched in the mind of Chris Backofen, but don’t worry -- his plans don’t involve stock fraud, and he’s not motivated by obscene amounts of money Rather,...

  • Student profile: Amitav Mishra

    Name: Amitav Mishra Location: Kolkata, India Age: 43 Job title: Stay-at-home dad preparing to rejoin the workforce Amitav Mishra’s Udemy queue has nearly 500 courses No kidding This is a man for whom learning is akin to living Throughout his life and career, Amitav has followed his curiosity, and it has...

  • Student profile: Vance Rodgers

    Name: Vance Rodgers Location: Mesa, Arizona Age: 39 Job title: Senior consulting software engineer Vance Rodgers is a no-nonsense type He moves fast, gets stuff done, and isn’t going to wait around for laggards He calls himself “an informational nerd” This personality was a perfect fit for military service...

  • From selfish addict to compassionate teacher

    One of the most important instructor traits is having a sense of empathy Instructors who can relate to their students and the challenges they face on the learning journey have better engagement and receive higher ratings Empathetic instructors also report greater satisfaction from the act of teaching and helping...