This article originally appeared in the Allegan County News and has been republished with permission. If you are an Allegan Public Schools graduate and would like to be featured in an article, contact our Communications Director.
By LESLIE BALLARD
Allegan County News
Life so far has been an interesting one for 2012 AHS graduate Charlotte “Charlie” Creech.
After graduating from high school, Charlie attended Grand Valley State University where she initially thought she would major in secondary education before switching to psychology and adding criminal justice. Thanks to having “two awesome professors in the Niemeyer Honors College,” she also delved into Middle Eastern Studies.
While in college, Charlie studied abroad, spending five weeks in Oman.
“Oman is unique. There’s no policing of what women wear, and there are lots of tourists in the cities. Muscat was more westernized, but I lived in what used to be a Bedouin village in the interior.”
She did see firsthand that there was no criticism of the government allowed in person or online. QA local friend’s husband critiqued the police force, which led to a month-long stint in jail.
“I’ve always been interested in different cultures. My family hosted a foreign exchange student from Germany in 2011 and later visited her in 2017. I also went to Puerto Rico with my high school Spanish class.”
Charlie attended a CIA recruitment conference at MSU her senior year at GVSU and was also in touch with an FBI agent from the local field office. “I’ve always been interested in using my language skills for an alphabet agency like one of those!”
After college, she returned to Oman and Dubai to study Arabic for nine months at the suggestion of one of her Middle Eastern Studies professors. She still remembers the amazing weather in the region and the challenge of reading from left to right again after being used to the Arabic system of reading and writing from right to left.
Upon her return to the US, Charlie needed a car and a job before a friend told her of an opening at K&M Wayland Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM. She applied, was hired, and bought a small car within a month and has been there ever since.
At AHS she played soccer, took AP classes and was a member of National Honor Society. Her AP courses enabled her to start college with 26 credits and left her with great memories.
Charlie fondly recalls having Mrs. Hascall for freshman English and AP English Literature and Composition her senior year. “A lot of my writing skills came from her. She was really helpful. It’s really freeing to write for a teacher that you know will not judge you but only try to improve your skills.”
She also remembers that 20-30 former students wrote letters to Mrs. Hascall describing what she had meant to them, putting the letters together in a book they presented her with when she retired.
A favorite memory for Charlie is a project from Mrs. Cooper’s AP World History class. “We drew pictures on pottery of things that we thought represented a certain civilization we learned about in class. Then we would break the pottery and another group would have to locate all the pieces, reassemble the pottery and try to guess which civilization it was supposed to represent. It was fun and really interesting – a pseudo archeological experience.”
While in high school she also developed an interest in photography, which she still enjoys, after Mrs. Conrad asked her to take pictures for the yearbook.
Her good memories of APS “go back to middle school with Mrs. Cameruci’s science class or North Ward with Mrs. Bartz and Mrs. Harlan, and even my bus drivers, Mary and Lorraine. It’s hard to find someone that I had a negative experience with. It’s much easier to look back on all the people who helped shape my life in a positive way.”
Life continues to be busy for Charlie as she is currently restoring her grandparents’ Miner Lake property, which is a 150 year-old farmhouse. Her father’s carpentry skills are coming in handy, and they have discovered what most owners of older homes know: “nothing is square!”
Something “cool” occurred while working on the farmhouse. “When we started taking up the flooring, we found copies of the Grand Rapids Press from May and June 1939 in pristine condition underneath.”
In addition to work and the restoration, she’s also getting an online accounting degree and taking some time to travel within the US with recent trips to New York City and Salem, Mass.
Callie, her 13 year-old yellow lab and Milka, her 5 year-old pitbull also keep her busy. She is quick to dispel the idea that pitbulls are naturally vicious. “I think how you raise them makes the difference. Milka is very socialized, and I take her to work with me. Everybody loves her. If you are around a pitbull very long, you realize the stereotype isn’t true. She’s a love bug.”
Charlie, who has always liked living in Allegan, observes that many of her classmates have stayed in the area. She attended her 10th reunion at Cheshire Hills and is still connected with other alums.
She has seen some positive changes in Allegan, especially in the last five years. “It’s more inclusive.”
“In middle and high school, we didn’t hang out downtown. Now there is more to do like New Year’s Eve and the Pride Parade.” One of her favorite downtown events is Fork in the Road when various food trucks are in town. “I think downtown is moving in a good direction.”
What comes next for Charlie is uncertain.
“I want to do something to combine my degrees, but I like where I am.”
