Doyeon Lim is one of LOHS’s newest chemistry teachers, and she is excited to continue the year with us. Other than some internships and guest teaching roles, this is her first year teaching at an official school.  

Before coming to Oregon, Lim taught in Korea, Alabama and other Oregon areas. LOSD was her first substitute work and because of her love for nature and the Lake Oswego community she wanted to continue making memories here. “I have all the good memories with Lake Oswego, so I had kept applying to the teaching positions in LOSD. I am so happy to be in the LOHS community!” Lim said. 

Lim was inspired to teach after having her own children and realizing how rewarding it can be. She also found interest in the curiosity and creativity that humans have inside of them and how those attributes can be used in different ways depending on the education and environment. “It gives me an insight about how human beings developed cultures and why people are living in a way in the present time,” she said. “I would love to embrace all the opportunities to help students so that they can find their own way to live in this world happily.” 

Something that Lim understands well is that high school is a major point in life because what students decide in high school usually shapes their future. Because she had a similar experience during her time in high school, she is excited to share her knowledge about it. “I would be more than happy if I could help students to spice up their thoughts for making a better life plan,” she said.

This year being her first year teaching, she did not have the experience that most other teachers had coming into online school. This made the beginning of the year much harder for her, but she has adapted to the new learning/teaching dynamic well. Lim said, “[At first] I could not imagine how online learning and teaching would flow. Now I feel settled down to a stable state of teaching for the online classes, [but] it was a big challenge.”

Lim has been teaching for a short amount of time, only teaching chemistry for just over a year. At the high school she only teaches chemistry, but she also recently began teaching Korean at the Oregon Korean School in Portland and teaches an instrument called the gayageum, which is a traditional Korean harp, at the Oregon Korean Performing Art Center, also in Portland. 

The reason her teaching career is just now taking off is because teaching is actually her second career, her first career being a patent specialist. After working in a law office in Korea for over 10 years, she decided to begin a new career path. And while her childhood dream was to be a pianist, she has not neglected it and still plays music, playing works by various musicians and even composing her own works of art. Her teaching career has not discouraged her to abandon her music, and she has found a way to 

combine the two. “I feel happy while teaching and interacting with students so I will continue to teach chemistry, Korean language and music,” said Lim. 

That being said, music is easily one of her main hobbies. She plays multiple instruments, including piano, ukulele and the gayageum. She is even one of the artists of the Oregon Korean Performing Arts, performing about twice a month (though not currently

because of COVID-19). Another way she is involved in music is composing her own pieces, which can be easily found online.

Besides music, she also spends a lot of time playing and singing with her two elementary school children who she says have opened up a new world with a whole new view for her.

Lim also enjoys nature and travelling. She loves exploring new places, people and their culture. Included in her travels are many countries in Asia including Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as Saipan and the United States. She hopes to visit more places in the future. 

After her many travels, Lim has settled in Oregon where she is very excited to continue her future here in Lake Oswego. With similar sentiments, LOHS is excited to have her!