...rolls eyes when no one's looking and thinks about the joyless high school teachers who put me off science...

My favorite high school teacher taught biology in The South. This was in a state that had one of those teach the controversy requirements with respect to evolution and the age of the earth and such. Whenever she would get to one of the places where she was required to speak bullshit she'd say "and now the state says I have to tell you a fairy tale, so if you want to go wander the halls for the rest of class you have my permission." When kids raised their hands to tell her science was just, like, her opinion man she'd hum Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to herself until they were done and then carry on like nothing had happened. A lot of my classmates became biologists or doctors. Her first semester was the semester I had her, and she quit to go teach at a little liberal arts college the year after I graduated, because the job was grinding her down.

This is how you get joyless high school teachers who put you off science.