I've posted the second post in the series, which provides some technical details about how managed heap is represented as background for the rest of the series.
I want to express how enormously well-received this comment is by me, and not only for the obvious reason that it is very high praise. I think it's not widely enough known that my formal education was in the humanities, not computer science or even a related technical field. I found Rust (back in 2014) very early in my experience with computer programming, and I had exactly the experience you describe: the Rust language and the Rust community rapidly accelerated my education.
For me it was not only the systems programming problems that Rust tackles and makes accessible, but also the particular intersection of different expertises and goals - the systems problems, the type theoretical approach, the commitment to an accessible user experience - that made Rust a fulcrum of learning for me. Even as my knowledge grows, there has always been a more informed person - often a world class expert - available to answer my questions.
I've been very fortunate over these past 4 years to have had the opportunity to become more and more involved in Rust, to the point that now it is my full time employment. It makes me so glad to hear that my work has had for others the impact that the work of others before had on me.