For most of the science teachers at Huntley High School, teaching science is all they have known, but for physics teacher Amanda Henk, it has been so much more.

Henk worked for years as an operator at a particle physics lab called Fermilab. It is a research facility where, according to Fermilab’s website, they do research about what the universe is made of and how it works. The lab also worked on recreating the “big bang.”

Her job was a tough rotating shift where 80 percent of her time was spent at a computer monitoring a beam of protons.

The other 20 percent was spent in an underground tunnel. It was a hazardous job due to radiation and potential lack of oxygen.

Yet it was “the best job she ever had.”

Henk would arrive at work and immediately went to the main control room, an official-looking room of computers where a special ID system would let her in.

During the day, the atmosphere of Fermilab was chaotic. However, at night, it was quiet, with the exception of a soft, incessant beeping in the background letting the scientists know everything was under control.

Working in the tunnel was always Henk’s favorite part of the job. She says the challenging work was fun and there was so much to do and see.

It was a huge facility where Henk did complicated work, and enjoyed working with the other scientists. Unlike most people, she enjoyed having the challenging day-to-day work.

The hours were tough, and despite the love of the challenging work and the people she worked with, she quit so that she could have a family. She even took a huge pay cut to become a teacher.

Most people might not know Henk as someone who used to work at Fermilab, but to her, it was a job she will never forget.