When I began my longish break from work last year I had no idea how I would be spending my time here in Tel Aviv. I did wallow in self-pity and thought if I could sleep all day, I would somehow get through the day. It was a struggle to find purpose beyond just dusting the house and doing the laundry. Even though I had the general idea that I wanted to spend my time learning new things, I had no will to begin. I also did not know where to begin until I began trawling YouTube for a direction and inspiration. I started with learning to crochet from videos on YouTube and went from a novice to making stuffed toys in a matter of two months! Around the same time I discovered some more YouTubers whom I now totally consider pals.

Amigurumi Minion

I do not remember when, but one day early this year I discovered Hank Green. Hank (Yeah, I am on first name basis with him now. Sshh! He does not know) is an Internetainerpreneur. He is the creator and host of multiple shows on YouTube that focus on science education. But that is not how I first found him, I happened upon his vlog channel vlogbrothers, where Hank and his brother talk about everything under the sun, from Goat birthing and 15 hours in Target to the 2016 US elections and the refugee crisis. They are committed to spreading awesomeness in the world. I was hooked to Hank and his ‘in four minutes or less’ take on life and everything else. I may be exaggerating, but Hank is like a friend and mentor to me. I have learnt so much from him and he has consistently been the person who articulates my innermost thoughts on every issue every time.

Once I discovered Hank, I was hurtling through SciShow and CrashCourse videos every day. I was taught many things in school, but learning was limited. There was so much to catch up on. It was an overload of information at first, but once I was up to speed with the Green brothers and their co-creators like Phil Plait (another favourite) I could revisit some old videos and improve my learning.

It is a bonus that Hank’s brother happens to be John Green. Yes, John Green of Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars fame. John creates and hosts videos on World History, Politics, Culture and Literature on CrashCourse. John is cut from the same cloth as his brother when it comes to being a responsible human being but for his uber cool hair. I cannot tell you how much the Brothers inspire me. They both have chronic illnesses that could potentially interfere with their daily lives, holding them back from doing all the awesome things they do, but they have each found ways to deal with it. That is no measure of their awesomeness but it is just one of those things that makes you realise how small your problems are in comparison and that a break in one’s career is hardly a pin prick.

Before Hank Green, I was (still am) an ardent follower of Derek Muller. Derek, the man behind Veritasium a channel that looks at teaching science using demonstrations and mostly interviews with public through which he tries to deconstruct scientific phenomena and dispel common misconceptions. In his PhD paper entitled Designing Effective Multimedia For Physics Education he describes how students who were taught using the lecture style found it effective but did not perform well in the test that followed whereas students who were subjected to a dialogue with a tutor where the tutor addresses several alternative conceptions found the method confusing but performed better that the first group of students. You must watch him in action to understand how the dialogue method works for the learner.

There are many other educational YouTubers I have learnt from in the past year — Smarter Every Day, ViHart, MinutePhysics. When I was struggling with getting out of bed and doing something, each of these guys taught me something new everyday. I also picked up an entire hobby from YouTube creators – Crochet. Who would have thunk?

A scarf I made this year