ANDREW HUDSON, HILLIGAN CLASS, 2012
WMU EDUCATION GRADUATE TAKES ON LAW SCHOOL AND FINDS PERFECT JOB AS
Assistant Attorney General
Early on, Hudson’s family influences and being a good student in school shaped his decision to become an educator.
and teaching three years at a Catholic school and a charter school, Hudson determined he needed a new career path.
“My grandfather was a teacher and I had a couple of aunts who were also teachers,” said Hudson. “I was always good in school and was one who tutored classmates. I was in the National Honor Society and I kind of made the logical assumption that because I was good in school, I would be a good teacher. I liked the process of learning and I liked school and so I wanted to make a career out of it.”
“At the end of three years, I kind of reassessed and decided that teaching was not something I wanted to do longterm,” said Hudson. “I knew I had skills that could be applied to a lot of different jobs, so that’s when I began looking around at other careers.”
Choosing to attend Western Michigan University wasn’t a hard choice for Hudson either.
Growing up in Kalamazoo, Andrew Hudson (Hilligan Class, 2012) knew two things for sure, one he would go to Western Michigan University, and second, he wanted to be an educator. The one thing that he didn’t know was that he would end up in Lansing working for Michigan’s Attorney General.
“It was local, obviously, and it was known for its education department. I wanted to be near home. Also, my dad and my grandfather went to Western too. We have a long lineage of Broncos,” noted Hudson. “At the time, my grandparents were elderly and I was helping take care of them. I also wanted an opportunity to work in the local schools where I grew up.” While at WMU, Hudson worked for a local agency with emotionally impaired children. He credits this work for a real springboard into teaching. “I had previously kind of been a shy and reserved person and working with emotionally impaired kids kicks the shyness right out of you.” Once he joined the teaching ranks, from interning at Kalamazoo Public Schools
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While watching Court TV, Hudson realized he could use his skills as a teacher as an attorney. “It was similar to a classroom in the sense that you have a jury that you are trying to teach the case to. I thought this would be really fascinating,” remembered Hudson. Choosing WMU-Cooley was easy for Hudson, as Lansing was close to his family in Kalamazoo, and also was a good fit for someone choosing to change careers. “I was not your traditional law school student in the sense that I was a little bit older, I had been in one career already, and I wasn’t going from undergraduate to law school,” he said. “Cooley kind of caters to that sort of thing, the non-traditional pathway.” Graduating second out of a class of 351 at WMU-Cooley, Hudson credits his success to his participation on the mock trial teams. “I competed in the first-year competition and enjoyed it,” he said. “It was fun. I got to use my teaching skills, in a way, to organize things and plan things out and then speak in front of people.”
After winning the first-year mock trial competition, he signed up for the next semester’s evidence competition and won that as well. “Professor (Anthony) Flores contacted me about the national team, so I joined that too,” said Hudson. “I had a knack for it.” Following graduation, Hudson worked for the Eaton County Prosecutors office. Six months later, after Hudson passed the bar, Eaton County Judge Calvin Osterhaven hired Hudson as his clerk. Osterhaven would eventually announce his retirement plans and Hudson decided to look for his next job. After several interviews with the Michigan Attorney General’s office, Hudson was hired as an assistant A.G. in the Licensing and Regulation Division. It did not take long after being hired by the A.G.’s office for Hudson to decide to make Lansing home. He has since purchased his first home, just a short walk from his office. The choice to pursue a career in law was a good one, Hudson noted. “It was the best decision I ever made,” said Hudson. “I grew up in law school. It really helped me mature and grow up as a professional. I found the perfect job for myself after law school, and Cooley had a lot to do with it.” See more about Andrew Hudson at cooleylawschoolblog.com.
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