Scholar Stories: Shane Managing School and Activities with Energy, Passion
3/20/2019 10:41:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Brad Rudner
Senior Mira Shane has a lot on her plate.
For starters, she is finishing up her degree in African American studies while pursuing minors in both law, justice and social change and music. After graduating this spring, Shane will head back home and begin working full-time with Anheuser-Busch. More on that in a bit.
Not only that, Shane is the starting goalkeeper for the No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team. The Wolverines are 10-0 -- already the best record in their short six-year history -- and are riding high heading into the meat of their Big Ten Conference schedule.
Shane also is the president of Athletes for Community Transformation (ACT), serves on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) executive board as a proponent for mental health, owns her own business (Miracle GoalKeeping) and sings with the a capella group 58 Greene on campus.
Time management is always a challenge for student-athletes. So how does Shane manage to balance all of that?
"It's just love and energy," she said last week inside the Ross Academic Center. "People have their own passions, and that's what fuels my passion. I never feel burnt out."
Shane initially came to Michigan thinking she would major in sport psychology, following in the footsteps of her mother, Wendy, who is a psychoanalyst. But during the spring of 2016, in the lead-up to the election that fall, Shane became very active in social justice, fueled largely by the political environment that swirled the country.
She was dedicated toward understanding how to better help marginalized identities (minorities) that were struggling. Shane felt African American Studies gave her something she needed: a natural blend between her own experiences as a biracial woman, and the academic-based research that gave her the power to back up with fact what she felt.
"That academic source can bring my social justice aspirations to the next level," Shane said. "Personal experience is important, but there's something so powerful about having a voice in an academic setting."
"I also felt very compelled and challenged by people who would say to me, 'That's a very obscure degree. Why would you choose to study an ethnicity?' It goes back to wanting to find power within your voice and taking that into a corporate setting, which a lot of people haven't seen before. It's something cool or new that I can do now."
That corporate setting she spoke of is at the Anheuser-Busch offices in Manhattan. Shane did an internship with the company last summer, working within the talent acquisition team. Using data analytics, she focused on diversity and inclusion and made recommendations to improve the current female pipeline. She was offered a full-time position at the conclusion of that internship, an offer she could not turn down.
Until then, however, Shane will be busy finishing obligations to her many side projects.
ACT: As the acting president of ACT, Shane organizes weekly trips for student-athletes to interact with children at local Ann Arbor community centers.
"It shows that if you work hard and show you're a good person, no matter what color, shade or tone you are, you can work hard and come to Michigan. We're breaking barriers, talking to kids that are different from you and you from them."
SAAC: Shane and Maggie Bettez (field hockey) are co-leading mental health initiatives on the SAAC Executive Board. Mental Health games for various sports, including lacrosse, have been discussed and hope to be implemented in the future.
"It's another opportunity to show vulnerability and to show people that you're there for them, and them for you. We've crafted a great space to open up the conversation and break stigmas."
58 Greene: Shane is a beatboxer in the a capella group 58 Greene, named after a room in the basement of East Quad. She was a singer in high school -- "I made all kinds of weird noises." -- and got involved early on as a freshman. The coed, multicultural group aims to promote cultural diversity and social justice through song. (Editor's note: You can see Shane and the group perform at Rackham Auditorium on April 20.)
"They're the bee's knees, some of the best people on this campus. During my recruiting process, I knew I needed to do music somehow. I needed a taste of it. Joining them is one of the best decisions I've made here."
Miracle GoalKeeping: Shane is the owner and operator of Miracle GoalKeeping, a side business she founded in high school that allowed her to privately coach young lacrosse goalkeepers in a one-on-one setting. Six years later, it's still going strong.
"I still have a lot of little goalies who I work with," she said. "I had a goalie coach when I was young and know what kind of impact that had on me. They put everything toward my success. I'm so thankful for them. To give that back is how Miracle GoalKeeping came to life. I still do lessons over breaks."
Speaking of lacrosse, Shane is playing a big part in the team's ascension this spring. A four-year starter in net, she is putting up the best numbers of her career, improving her goals-against average (8.51, down from 11.26 in 2018) and save percentage (.523, way up from .418 in 2018).
The Wolverines have already won five games against ranked opponents. They've also proven to be clutch in crunch time, winning four games by one or two goals.
"It's been unreal," Shane said of the team's improvement. "As a team, we're so focused. One of (head coach) Hannah Nielsen's main things is, what passion do you bring to the game, and how willing are you to step up on the field and play your best? It's not necessarily about the win, but did you play with your whole heart and give your very best that day? That's what we're doing and what we want to continue to do the rest of the year.
"It's been a pleasure to play beside these people. I'm so thankful for this team and the people who keep pushing me in practice to be the player that I am."
Down the road, Shane could see herself doing any number of things, whether that's music, poetry (another activity done in her spare time), in corporate America or on the lacrosse field. Regardless of what path she chooses in the end, her experience at Michigan has been fulfilling.
And it has been one heck of a ride.
"Michigan has been very good to me," Shane said. "Everyone has a struggle they go through whether it's an injury or something mental. And school is hard. This place has just been a blessing and taught me so much about gratitude. At the beginning, I missed home so much, but this is now another home for me. I think it's just so powerful and special for me to be able to call Michigan home for the rest of my life."
