…and you should too. 

Let me tell you a story about a young man that grew up with everything he ever needed, not necessarily everything he ever wanted. He took advantage of all the generous teachers providing their patience, professional lives, and talents to a student population that was often times apathetic, or worse, just plain rude. He was never the caliber athlete that would have scholarships thrown upon him but he competed and played football, basketball, and ran track from midget league to varsity.

When he was provided erroneous high school curriculum direction from an inept guidance counselor he modified the change after one semester and made better grades to make up for the loss in GPA. He dealt with and experienced, the insecurity in being a young adult, young love, and down right ignorant decision making processes that were often times done multiple times before the lesson was learned. 

Life threw him curve balls, sometimes never experienced by others, although impacting way too many. He hit rock bottom several times mentally, physically, and emotionally with the roll-a-coaster ride that comes with the certainty of life and that is death. But through it all he completed the accomplishments that come through hard work, perseverance, luck, and prayer. 

Undergraduate studies were largely funded by the state of South Carolina through various scholarships and the remainder through hard working parents and summer jobs. After a little over a year in the professional setting at various non-profit entities and then a stint in Mexico teaching English as a foreign language, he sought further education through a law degree. 

He was accepted to several schools, none of them being affordable, and went head first into the abyss of student loans. He was taught how to think within legal parameters, told when to attend class, and surrounded by hundreds of strangers in which only a handful of real friends would exist. When an opportunity arose to study international law through another school’s summer program he was denied that opportunity, strictly based on financial reasons. (Money to another school for tuition meant no money for his current school). 

After facing the death of his mother at the beginning of the second year of law school he reached out to the readily available medicinal values of alcohol. Fortunately law school courses only have one exam per class, per semester so he was easily able to rise to the occasion when it mattered. The rest of the time was filled with a glass half empty perspective and cynical nomenclature of those more "enlightened" through higher education. 

By the time graduation rolled around he was beginning to see the dense clouds and fog clear on the horizon and thought the worse may actually be close to over. That was until graduation gowns and "caps" were selected, boldly reflecting the pious and pretentious enigma of a law school graduate. This was the last straw and a purging of the experience could only have been done by pulling this scholarly hood ornament down far upon his face like a toboggan. Then when it was his turn to politely, professionally, and with the honor of a highly educated individual walk across the stage to receive his diploma…he danced. 

 After Incurring over $150,000.00 in student loans only to receive a degree that merely allowed him to take a three day exam before he could call himself a professional he studied three years to become; after inquiring with administrators why attendance had to be kept since he was paying them a handsome yearly sum to teach him;  after being denied international educational experiences for which he qualified; after loving to write but not being a good legal writer, and after some tumultuous ups and downs through those three years, he entered the stage in a city that bore the "Allman Brothers" feeling the need to let his soulshine so he danced, jumped, and gave shout outs to his family.

You, high school, technical school, college, graduate school, and/or doctorate degree graduates should dance upon the stage, too. Remember the past remains behind you unless you allow it to overcome you in the present.  The present is all you have to enjoy for today but use it wisely as it determines your future. Always remember to dance regardless of your stage. 

 

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Photo of Trey Mills Trey Mills

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills,

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills, Jr. and Patricia Yarborough Mills, were originally from Newberry, South Carolina, and soon after the birth of Mr. Mills, his parents brought him back to be raised in the same county they grew up in.

Education

Mr. Mills attended Newberry Academy from grades K-3, Gallman Elementary 4th grade, Rikard Elementary 5-6th grade, Mid-Carolina Middle School 7-8th grades, Mid-Carolina High School from 9-12th grades, Clemson University, and Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.

Health Crisis

While Mr. Mills was a junior in high school he was chosen by his school to be a representative to Boys State.  This was a great honor and would have been an even better experience except, while at Boys State, Mr. Mills became unusually ill with blackouts, night sweats, and back pain.  Fortunately for Mr. Mills, his mother was an ER nurse at Lexington Medical Center, but unfortunately, for Mr. Mills that did not change his diagnosis of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.  Along with his diagnosis, Mr. Mills received a prognosis of two weeks.

Obviously, Mr. Mills has been blessed with his second chance at life and those who have been wronged by health care insurance companies and other types of insurance companies can feel confident in knowing that Mr. Mills can not only empathize with them but fight fervently for their side.  Mr. Mills’ cancer experience and his mother’s arduous yet unsuccessful battle against lung cancer were very trying times.  However, those real-world battles and experiences were nothing compared to the administrative and billing wars he had to encounter with Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance. It seems BCBS would deny any charge over $1,000 without rational reasoning therefore prompting Mr. Mills to go to law school and carry the torch for those that were too ill to fight for themselves while the school yard bully beat them down.

College

Mr. Mills went on to Clemson University where he was very active in student activities along with academic accomplishments.  Mr. Mills was invited to join Calhoun Honor’s College, Sigma Pi fraternity, Golden Key National Honor Society, Student Government, IPTAY Student Advisory Board, and Tiger Brotherhood. Mr. Mills also worked as a student employee with IPTAY Scholarship Fund under the direction of Bert Henderson, formerly the Associate Athletic Director of Planned Giving at Clemson University.

Early Life

Mr. Mills was unsure of where his hard work and life experiences would best provide an adequate return to the outpouring of kindness he received during his cancer experience. Having received many blessings from the American Red Cross, Mr. Mills went on to be an Apheresis Donor Recruiter under the supervision of Barry Pollard at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Services in Columbia, SC after graduating Clemson University.

Running from his true calling, Mr. Mills fled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  Having spent a semester of college in Madrid, Spain, Mr. Mills thought he should be assisting foreign countries. Mr. Mills was certified by the Vancouver Language Centre in Guadalajara for his TEFL training.  Mr. Mills was in Guadalajara only a few months when September 11, 2001 occurred and helped him focus on his life priorities.

Law School

Mr. Mills went on to law school at Mercer University and clerked each summer trying to determine how he could best serve those less fortunate.  The corporate law firms never truly provided him with that personal feeling of assisting the common person in need.  It wasn’t until Mr. Mills became the first law clerk of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association under the supervision of Linda Franklin and lobbyist Michael Gunn that he realized where his education, life experience, drive, and hard work could truly benefit those who have been personally and directly affected by the negligence of another.  Mr. Mills wanted to be a coveted and much needed plaintiff’s trial attorney.  More importantly Mr. Mills realized the power of the faceless insurance companies, misinformed legislative members, and the true power of money and lobbyist in dictating laws.

What’s the one service you pay for all your life but you are actually penalized if you ever have to use it? Insurance.

Trammell & Mills

Mr. Ernie Trammell gave Mr. Mills his big break at leveling the playing field against the faceless and heartless insurance companies.  Mr. Mills works tirelessly every day in an effort to bring justice to those who have been wronged.  Mr. Mills has worked on both sides of the law and has been through some harrowing life experiences.  Mr. Mills has been tested and tried by many of the more traumatic events that life has to offer and now provides his services to the public.

Who would you rather have on your side? Someone whose resolve has been tested and tried? Or someone who has intertwined their morality and greed in such a way that they can’t tell one from the other?

Why haven’t you hired Mr. Mills to be your attorney yet?

Would you listen to the devil on how to get to Heaven? Then why listen to insurance adjusters?