We’ve all been or will be in high school at some point in our lives – whether it is currently, in the past or in the future. LHS alum share what their experience at LHS was like and what their life is like now.
Mr. Dean
Mr. Dean graduated in 2015 with his aunts, uncles and both of his parents having attended LHS as well.
“I really had such an amazing experience,” he said. “I had a great group of friends. I was super involved…[and] went to a lot of athletic events.” He was on the Cross Country team, the president of Future Business Leaders of America and a member of Student Ambassadors.
He cherished memories from the school dances – especially prom.
“Our prom was on a boat in the city in downtown Chicago,” he said. “That was really fun.”
Mr. Dean enjoyed AP and honors social studies classes like Geography Honors, AP US History and AP Government.
“One of my strong suits is my memory,” he said. “I felt like I did really well in [those] classes. They did a lot more memorization and I had really good teachers.” He also liked physics with Ms. Torrance.
AP Portfolio was another class that he appreciated. He specialized in photography and enjoyed participating in the Art Show in May.
The business classes in high school prepared Mr. Dean for his future. He is a digital nomad, working fully remote and traveling a lot for work. He currently lives in Lincolnshire, but has also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, Europe and Asia.
“I work in advertising technology sales now, so I do streaming [for] TV commercials, helping put them on TV,” he said. “A lot of my business classes helped out with that, especially public speaking and confidence.”
Mr. Dean also took Speech with Mr. Thomas which helped him build valuable skills for his future.
“We did do a lot of projects and public speaking,” he said. “It really helped out with a lot of the teamwork aspect and entrepreneurship.”
Mr. Dean is thankful to have attended LHS.
“I really have loved the community, especially in high school with my cousins,” he said. He has still kept in touch with many of his teacher’s from high school.
Mr. Eric Brzezinski
Mr. Eric Brzezinski graduated in 2008. Since graduating from high school, he has been in the Moving and Storage business working at ShurWay Moving, a family-owned business here in Libertyville.
“[LHS] prepared me [to be] able to socialize with people,” Mr. Eric Brzezinski said. “I think a lot of our teachers and being in Libertyville High School brought a lot of knowledge to the business development as well as the learning.”
Before transferring to LHS as a freshman, Mr. Eric Brzezinski went to the grade schools in Vernon Hills. While it was hard for him to adjust at first, he ended up having a positive experience.
“Each day was exciting, whether [it was] playing sports or going into school or doing the prep rallies,” he said.
Mr. Eric Brzezinski hopes that students will enjoy their high school experience and make the most of it.
“Make sure that you’re trying your best to get those good grades and show up every day so your future could be bright, whether that’s college or going into trades,” Mr. Eric Brzezinski said. “It all starts when you’re young and making sure you take what you’ve learned in school to that next adventure of your life.”
Mr. Eric Brzezinski appreciates the nostalgia that Libertyville gives him.
“I always enjoyed my time at Libertyville and still being here in the community is something that I take pride in every single day,” he said.
Mr. Scott Brzezinski
Mr. Scott Brzezinski graduated in 2007. Like his cousin Mr. Eric Brzezinski, he also works at ShurWay Moving. He appreciated how LHS offers a variety of opportunities to help students.
“[There are] a lot of different resources that LHS has between colleges and counselors,” he said. “There’s always somebody there willing to help, whether it’s one of your teachers or somebody willing to talk.”
Mr. Scott Brzezinski’s art teacher helped him to explore many different types of art in his AP art class in high school. There, he found his appreciation for pottery.
“Showing off everything that [I’ve} done throughout the year was probably a really good fond memory,” he said. “[The teacher] introduced me to a lot of different mediums like paper mache, printing [and] metal work. It wasn’t just all ceramic, it was [also] incorporating all that into different things and experimenting.”
Mr. Scott Brzezinski didn’t know a lot of students until he joined more extracurricular activities such as club gymnastics.
“I came into my own [when] I joined club gymnastics,” he said. “I had a lot more friends. I feel like I [had] a better personality [because I] discovered some moral values. I started having friends in my grades…I was finding different groups for [different] interests.”
He appreciates that he is still friends with some of his friends from high school.
Mr. Chung
Mr. Chung graduated in 1999 and now works in real estate in nearby Chicago suburbs.
“My career in real estate has been successful because I used everything that I’ve ever learned in order to be successful in real estate,” he said.
Before working in real estate, he had many other careers such as working for Disney, making movies and working for Morningstar.
One of his favorite classes from high school was Auto Mechanics which he took his senior year and inspired his future.
“Being able to work with your hands and learn in a lab environment was really a lot of fun for me,” he said. “It actually opened up my mind to hands on learning going forward. I pursued a lot of that in college.”
Mr. Chung was a part of the Wind Ensemble playing the trumpet.
“I remember all the different concerts and competitions that we were involved in,” he said. “We won super state for wind ensemble one of the years that I was there which [was] a lot of fun and definitely a memory.” He was also on the tennis team.
Mr. Chung recommends that students try as many different activities and classes as possible in order to find what they are interested in and to help them with different career opportunities.
“The more that you try or immerse yourself [in] and also put yourself out there, the better,” he said. “I had no idea that I would enjoy [Auto Mechanics] that much and that it would actually have a big impact on things that I pursued later in life. But it did and you just never know what might trigger that for you.”
Being in real estate, Mr. Chung had the opportunity to be on HGTV’s House Hunters with one of his clients which was shot here in Libertyville. His clients moved from Seattle and needed a house to meet all of their needs.
“It’s [was] a bit of a homecoming for me,” he said. “We were lucky enough to find [a house] right there in Libertyville because Libertyville is a great place and there is a variety of housing stock available. They love the community [and] they love the area. They will eventually send their kids, hopefully to LHS and the experience itself [was] a lot of fun.”
Mr. Chung appreciates how special of a place that LHS is.
“It has a really high degree of excellence which is fantastic,” he said. “All the teachers and the staff administrators and all your fellow students are very respectful and courteous and [are] there for the same goal and same mission…That high degree of excellence certainly translates into your college years as well as into your career.”
Mr. Chung values the relationships and friendships that he made at LHS.
“They can be or will be relationships that you might have for the rest of your life,” he said. “My closest friends to this day 20 plus years later in Libertyville are friends that I had while I was there in high school. So regardless of where your career [or] your life may take you, whether it’s moving across the country or staying local, one of those friendships that you have or that you’re making right now will be with you hopefully for a very long time.”
