Michael Freese:
CLASS OF 1979
Melvindale High SchoolClass of 1979
Melvindale, MI
Hillsdale CollegeClass of 1984
Hillsdale, MI
Strong Middle SchoolClass of 1976
Melvindale, MI
Dasher SchoolClass of 1974
Melvindale, MI
Evans Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Melvindale, MI
Michael's Story
After graduation from MHS in June of 1979, though there were distractions galore, I lost my mind ever so slightly, and I got a later start than first planned, I finally went off to attend Hillsdale College in January of 1980.
While a student at Hillsdale, I majored in in Pre-law (History), with the intent to go on to Wayne State or U of D law for my J.D. after.
Besides attending classes at Hillsdale, I participated in student government, Intramural sports, and pledged Phi Sigma Epsilon National Fraternity. To get a feel for what being a Phi Sig at Hillsdale was like back then, watch the movie "Animal House," (The Delta's, not the Omega's), once or twice, and that'll give you a pretty good idea.
After 4.5 years of classes, all nighters, too many toga parties, and way too much "Jungle Juice," in the end I concluded that law school was something best never attempted. .
It wasn't so much having the grades (There was always Cooley - smile), taking the LSAT (which I already had done), or even having to take the bar exam later on that didn't appeal. It was more the idea of having to be a student for three more years, hitting the books yet again, and going another $30K in debt on top of the already 12K I was in hock for my undergrad degree.
Besides all that. after being cloistered away out in Hillsdale, Michigan for over four years, I had grown as an individual and in my personality. Being a boring lawyer handling boring cases in a boring court room in front of other boring lawyers and boring judges wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
There were far more interesting, and far more appealing career alternatives to pursue as opposed to the study and application of boring precedents and torts.
So, in May 1984, after shaking commecement speaker Malcom Forbes hand (No doubt to the reilef of not more than a few of my professors), and armed with my newly minted bachelors degree, I made ready to enter the next phase of my life.
Within three weeks of graduation, I accepted a sales rerpresentative position with Toronto headquartered, building materials manufacturer, Abitibi-Price Corporation.
Beating out 900 other applicants for one position, not to mention going from a broke college student with barely two pennies to rub together and no wheels to three weeks after graduation and landing a nice starting salary (By the standards of the time), and a brand spanking new company car, was a quite a feat I thought.
Plus the fact I was going to be traveling all the time and seeing new places was quite appealing too.
And in the begining, traveling over a 12 state sales territory 4 nights a week, staying in hotels and eating out every night was indeed a LOT of fun. .
However, the excitement of that wore off pretty quickly and the traveling became more of a grind than anythng else. My attitude in short order became: "Oh no, do I have to go Baltimore for the week again?"
It was then and there I understood why the Beatles stopped touring.
So, after not too much soul searching and looking back at the 8 month tedium I'd just been through. I made the decision to leave Abitibi-Price in January 1985.
They always say things happen for a reason and ...Expand for more
to go with your gut because it turned out to be a good move on my part. I learned later that the company wound up being swallowed whole by one of their competitors in the early 1990's.
Another good saying is: "Timing is indeed everything in life."
After doing some teaching and coaching at the middle school level for the next few months going into 1985, I came to the realization that teaching, while rewarding on a mental and spiritual level, was not nearly as financially rewarding as the business world could be.
So, in late 1985, I went back into the business world, and after acquiring the necessary licenses, I accepted an agent/broker position with the Dearborn based insurance company, AAA Michigan.
In June of 1990, after 5 years of hard work and building up my clientelle at AAA, I was given the opportunity to open my own agency in the city of Trenton with a group of fellow agents.
In 2011 after a long and tumultuous 25.5 years at AAA, I made the move to Farmers Insurance Group and opened an agency for them, also in the city of Trenton.
Things were going along nicely, but as so often seems to happen to me, just after the new year in 2013, fate intervened again and presented me with the opportunity to reinvent myself, this time as a true independent agent with a truly independent agency of my own.
This opportunity was simply too good to pass up and in April 2013, The Freese Agency officially opened its doors.
At The Freese Agency I provide a large portfolio of personal and commercial insurance products to the residents of Trenton and the surrounding communities of Woodhaven, Riverview, Grosse Ile, Brownstown Twp., Rockwood, Flat Rock and Gibraltar.
I now have to say since it's my name on the building, I am working harder than I ever did when I was a captive agent for someone else. I also enjoy coming to work every day again because the efforts I put forth, and the growth that results, benefit me and not someone else.
Plus there is the fact that my daughter, Grace, has the opportunity to walk into a ready made business opportunity - if she wants it, when she finishes college, takes over the world or finshes nail tech school, whichever comes first. :)
Speaking of my precious angel, Grace, she is now nine years old (Going on nineteen), and is still keeping me more than busy. Lot's of challenges and always something new, but she does keep me laughing amidst all the insanity of life. She also keeps me very young at heart too, I must admit.
So, that pretty much sums up "Me." I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.
It's been a long and winding road from grade school to college to where I am in my life now, with lots of twists and turns, and a few curves thrown at me here and there to boot. And it ain't over yet - lol.
Time does indeed fly when one is having fun in this journey called life.
I have to say that no matter where I am, no matter what I may be doing, or whatever I may be involved with in my often way too busy life, I always have with me memories of all the experiences and people - both fellow students and faculty, I crossed paths with, and growing up, while being a student at both MHS, and Hillsdale.
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