I Say "Yes" in Class. I Understand Nothing. And I Know I'm Not Alone.

This is part of my build-in-public series where I document everything honestly — the problems I face,the observations I make,and what I'm trying to build.

There's a moment that happens in almost every class.

The teacher finishes explaining something. Looks around the room. And asks:

Everyone clear?

And the entire class says "yes."

Including me.

Even when I understood absolutely nothing.

The Loop Nobody Talks About

Here's what actually happens — at least for me and I suspect for a lot of you reading this:

Teacher is explaining a concept. I'm trying to follow. Somewhere in the middle, I lose the thread. Maybe the explanation was too fast. Maybe the concept needed something I didn't know yet. Maybe I just zoned out for 10 seconds and missed the part that made everything else make sense.

Now I have two choices:

Option A: Raise my hand. Ask the question. Risk looking like I wasn't paying attention or worse ask something that makes me look stupid in front of everyone.

Option B: Stay quiet. Nod. Say "yes" when the teacher asks. And hope it makes sense later.

I always pick Option B.

And then "later" comes — sitting alone at home, textbook open, trying to study for a test and I have no idea where to even begin. The concept is still missing. The gap is still there. But now there's no teacher, no classroom, no one to ask.

So I either text a friend (who's also confused), scroll YouTube for 40 minutes looking for the right explanation, or just… close the book and tell myself I'll figure it out tomorrow.

I never figure it out tomorrow.

This Isn't Just a "Me" Problem

I'm an engineering student in Pakistan. Maths, Physics, Chemistry — subjects where one missing concept breaks everything that comes after it.

And I genuinely believe most of my classmates feel exactly the same way. We just don't say it out loud. Because saying "I don't understand" in a classroom full of people takes a kind of courage that most of us don't have.

So we all nod together. And we all go home confused together. And we all fail tests together — or barely pass and wonder why we can't seem to get it no matter how hard we try.

The problem isn't that we're not smart enough.

The problem is that we never actually understood the foundation and nobody told us how to find it.

What I Actually Need

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

I don't need another YouTube channel. I don't need a longer textbook. I don't need a tutor who teaches me the same way my teacher does.

What I need is something that looks at what I'm struggling with and tells me:

"Start here. This is the concept you're missing. Here's how it connects to what you're trying to learn. Go step by step — this first, then this, then this."

Not a generic explanation. A personal one. Based on my specific gap.

If that existed, I wouldn't need to ask my teacher. I wouldn't need to feel embarrassed. I'd just — know where to begin.

I Want to Know If You Feel This Too

I'm not building anything yet. I'm still in the observation phase — trying to understand if this problem is real for more people than just me.

So I'm asking directly:

Do you go through this? Do you say "yes" in class when you mean "no"? Do you sit at home not knowing where to start?

Because if enough people feel this — there might be something worth building here.

— bjumani