With college tuition feeling out of reach and no clear career direction, Justin decided to take two years away from school. He was curious about science and was ready to learn but couldn’t find the right elements until he found exactly what he was looking for at CVTC.

He chose CVTC’s Liberal Arts program because he still wasn’t 100 percent sure what path he wanted to take. He liked that he could take classes while figuring out a career option. Justin says CVTC’s small class sizes and friendly, helpful instructors make everything feel possible.

A CVTC biology class set into motion his entire future. His instructor showed him the wonders of life, taught him to love learning, and made him realize he wanted to share his passion for science with his own students as a teacher.

Due to the affordability of CVTC’s Liberal Arts program and readily available scholarships through the CVTC Foundation, he was able to earn his associate’s degree, the first member of his family to achieve this, and transfer to UW-Eau Claire without any debt.

After graduating with his bachelor's degree, he worked for a year at New Auburn High School as a science teacher before accepting his current position as an 8th-grade science teacher at Altoona Middle School.

Justin loves to enlighten and spark the curiosity of young people at a critical time in their lives. He works to make each student feel valued and be the person for them that his CVTC instructors were for him.

He says he couldn’t have had the same college experience anywhere else, getting to explore different topics and focus on what he was curious about with support from faculty who understood his curiosity.

He feels proud and grateful to be in front of his own class encouraging and engaging the minds of the future.