From the Marine Corps, to a security guard at Warner Bros., to finally becoming an English professor, Jason Freudenrich is a man who has ‘been there’ and ‘done that.’
Freudenrich is an English Professor at Pierce College who was born and raised in Minnesota. While serving in the marines, he traveled the world three times overseas. But when teaching became his passion, he settled and never changed his mind.
After spending years in the Marine Corps, transitioning to a new life began with a different job.
“When I got out of the Marine Corps, I actually became a security guard at Warner Bros.,” Freudenrich said. “Then I started going to school and I actually started here at Pierce College, then I transferred to California State University, Northridge (CSUN), which led me back here as a professor.”
Despite having done very little planning in life, it seems that life already had a plan for the Freudenrich, leading him back Pierce.
“Fate, it’s all fate. It was almost like it was meant to be,” Freudenrich said. “I mean it’s so hard to explain. It just happened. Now when I look back, it has all happened.”
For Freudenrich, life at work is great and there are reasons to keep coming back every semester.
“I love my faculty, I love my students. I don’t know if I can express enough how much I love my students,” Freudenrich said.
Freudenrich’s colleague, Christopher Corning added on to why Freudenrich is a champion in the classroom.
“Really motivating students to believe that they can be successful, he is really big on that and I think he takes special pride in identifying students who are kind of like on the edge,” Corning said. “Trying to bring them in and helping them see that they can do it.”
Daniel Castanedo, a freshman music major, believes that a good professor is dependant on how willing they are to work with their students.
“They need to be open with their class,” Castanedo said. “Engage with them and be able to teach them at their level.”
For Freudenrich, teaching is a strong passion, but he does have his hobbies outside of his school life.
“I like to build, I like to blacksmith, I like to do all kinds of other things.” Freudenrich said.
Aside from his hobbies, Freudenrich also likes to show his support for different utilities around the area.
“He is a big supporter and proponent of our utility sources in the Los Angeles area. He loves the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power,” Corning said.
While his life is filled with many interesting events, to Freudenrich, just about every day is interesting.
“I think everyday is interesting, I mean today is interesting, yesterday is interesting, so I can’t really specify a specific point that is interesting that I want to talk about,” Freudenrich said.
