Have students learned about their new counselor, who they may look to for some of their most important decisions? Ms. Matijevic’s favorite hobby is photography, “I definitely miss going to downtown and taking pictures of the buildings, or even the people in the streets.” If she could experience a book for the first time again it would be The Outsiders. She grew up in Elgin, so teaching at St. Edward is like returning home for her. She has a younger brother, and her favorite family tradition is getting money from catching and letting go of lightning bugs. “When I was little, if we caught lightning bugs, my mom would say that they were Italian lightning bugs and if we left them in our room overnight, the next morning we would wake up with a couple [of] dollars.” Her best memory is going to Mexico every year with her neighbors. She finds that it is important to keep these friendships. “I’ve been friends with some of them for almost twenty years.”

Ms. Matijevic attended Carthage College for her undergrad degree and studied communications and public relations. She also attended National Louis University for her master’s degree and studied clinical mental health with a focus on school counseling. She studied to be a counselor because her grandma was a social worker and she wanted to follow in her grandma’s footsteps. She also had a good relationship with her high school counselor, who had a big impact on her life.

Her favorite thing about working at St. Edward is how welcoming the students and staff are toward new staff in comparison to her internship. Her advice to high school students would be to enjoy high school because it is your last chance to be without responsibilities. “It’s probably the last time where you’re going to be able to not have to worry about too many responsibilities. There is not a day that goes by where I was like ‘Wow! I should’ve taken more advantage of high school’”. She is motivated to always be better than she was the day before. Overall, she is excited to build new relationships and contribute to students’ growth during their time at St. Edward.