Being a full-time teacher is fun and exciting for Biology and secondary education major Justina Doll, graduate of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.

“I love to be lazy,” Doll said. “Teachers always like to say, ‘don’t procrastinate, turn things in on time,’ but we as teachers are guilty of doing the same things, so I have a tendency to fall back into bad habits, since I am a recent graduate.”

Doll admits to being a “big dork, as all science teachers are.” Doll says her students are great and hard working and she really enjoys teaching here.

“The main reason I decided to go into teaching was because when I was in school, I wasn’t the best student, but I never excelled,” Doll said. “Teachers did not know how to encourage me, so I dreaded school. I loved working with people and when I worked at a camp over the summer; that’s when I decided I wanted to pursue biology: a topic that I hated in high school, but I somehow found this interest and love for it. I thought, ‘Hey if I could go back and motivate students to kind of fall in love with the his topic, I think that could be the best thing that could happen’.”

According to Doll, she could not see herself working in a lab because there are many years of school required and the cost would be a burden. That’s when she decided to be a teacher.

“And then [while working at an outdoor summer camp] I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I would love to be a teacher,’” Doll said. “I love doing it and I love working with kids and other people and it has been a great experience so far.”

Doll refers to herself as a very chill teacher and relatable to her students, because she was just a student herself.

“I admit to my mistakes a lot and I let my kids know I am very human, like if I did a math problem wrong it’s ok to call me out,” Doll said. “We all make mistakes and that’s the learning environment.”