From the Canadian Arctic to Venezuela, I reflect on how experiences in various places shaped my personal and professional identities as a high school science teacher. I began my work with STEPWISE about a decade ago helping students at an international school in Venezuela develop research-informed action projects on socioscientific issues amidst a national crisis. Through this collaboration, I learned how science education could become more meaningful when students learn about real-world STSE (Science, Technology, Society and Environment) issues. Later, I was inspired to pursue a master’s research in place-based education to better understand how to engage students in transformative experiences in their local community and environment. I conducted research on the phenomenology of place and learned that an aesthetic consciousness could foster a sense of care for nature as the Other. In this chapter, I highlight my latest efforts at blending place-based and action-oriented instruction to promote ecojustice. In my after-school Eco Club, I invite students to care for the school garden in a slow, playful manner; in my science classes, I provide experiential opportunities on local STSE issues to empower students to take action on issues that matter to them. Throughout the chapter, I reflect on the times that I spent in the Arctic tundra as a novice ecologist that inspired me to develop an aesthetic sensitivity and environmental justice for where I live. Through these musings, I ponder how students, too, could develop a care for nature and an ecological mindfulness of being in the world.