Scholar Stories: Family Passion of Real Estate Becoming a Future for Burns
11/27/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each week MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Mya Fromwiller
Ian Burns, a senior on the University of Michigan men's basketball team, will be graduating in the spring with a Bachelor's of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business. He plans to pursue a career in real estate, a passion he has had since before he entered college.
This interest was shaped by the people around him and at a young age, he was exposed to various people that worked in real estate, such as mentors, family members and teachers. These conversations piqued his interest in the subject, and after further consideration, he was motivated to follow this interest in college.
As he planned to pursue a career in real estate, he dreamed of attending a top business school to provide him with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed. His time at Ross has turned this dream into a reality and has provided him with invaluable experience that will be extremely beneficial as he begins his career. After acquiring real estate knowledge in an academic setting, he was determined to gain industry experience, which led him to pursue a real estate internship in Chicago this past summer.
"I did an internship for a small operator in the suburbs of Chicago and spent a lot of time during the first couple of weeks learning how to underwrite," said Burns. "I took a real estate modeling course with the other interns and that was great, I learned a lot. The next couple of weeks were just underwriting, so I would work with different OMs (operating memorandums) that were sent from our boss. I would work through those OMs with properties and models that we had created and underwrite those properties with information sent from that OM while also performing market research for acquisition projects that the company was going after."
Although Burns has always had an interest in real estate, he also has a strong interest in finance as well. After gaining industry experience this past summer, he hopes to combine these two interests and pursue a career on the private equity side of real estate in a big city such as Chicago or New York.
As he prepares to graduate from Ross, Burns specifically appreciates all of the people that he has met in the program. The focus on group projects in the program is something that he has really enjoyed and he is grateful for the opportunity to work with people from a variety of backgrounds and interests. In addition, he also appreciates all of the professors that he has had while in Ross and keeps in contact with several of them since taking their classes.
"I just love the people that are in Ross, there's a lot of like-minded individuals who are after the same goals but come from a variety of different backgrounds," said Burns. "It's cool to work with a lot of those different types of people because a lot of the assignments in these classes are group projects, so you're working a lot with hands-on scenarios with other people."
Burns has always found inspiration from the people around him and this is especially true for his athletic interests. He began playing basketball as a child because a lot of his friends and family members played and although he grew up playing many different sports, basketball was always the one he enjoyed the most. As he got older, he decided to play more seriously, trying out for competitive leagues and playing on travel teams. He always dreamed of playing a collegiate sport and considered playing golf in college instead of basketball. However, he decided to follow in his dad's footsteps and pursue college basketball -- fulfilling a lifelong dream that he had since he was a child.
"I loved watching basketball as much as I loved playing it, so my interest has always been there as a little kid watching college basketball and March Madness -- that's where I wanted to be," said Burns.
When it came to choosing which school to play at, Burns always knew he wanted to play at Michigan. He had grown up going to Michigan games and basketball camps and in his hometown of Winnetka, Ill., a strong Michigan presence shaped his love for the school.
"It was always just a school that I wanted to go to, athletics or not," said Burns. "When it became time for the recruiting process, Michigan was just one of the schools that I wanted to be at, so I made sure to reach out to the coaches, send them my film and have my AAU coaches contact them. The opportunity presented itself, and it was really a no-brainer from there."
His love for the school both on and off the court has only grown stronger throughout his time in Ann Arbor. His experience on the basketball team has taught him a lot and he appreciates both the personal and athletic development that the program has provided him.
"It taught me what's necessary to be successful, whether it's winning basketball games or just in life in general," said Burns. "I think that's been very powerful for me and one of my biggest takeaways is just having to have knowing how to manage everything and I think that's been really good for me."
Although the team and program have undergone a lot of change during these past four years, Burns identifies the positive team atmosphere as a defining characteristic through it all.
"I think the team culture has been great," Burns said. "I think it's always been great. I mean, you spend so much time with these guys and kind of almost forced to get to know each other more than normal because you're thrown into the fire with each other. The coaches did a great job of putting together a bunch of guys that are willing to get along with other people and are selfless and put others first. I think once you have those things combined together, it's fairly easy to have a good culture and I think that's why we do."
Although his time at Michigan has been filled with many fond team memories, there is one in particular that he names as the most memorable: competing in March Madness. During Burns' freshman year, the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament, the most iconic in college basketball. From watching the selection show to actually being at the tournament, it is a memory that Burns will never forget. He specifically recalls the feeling as Michigan took down Tennessee, a highly ranked No. 3-seed in the second round. As the season progresses, Burns hopes the team will chase that feeling again.
"I don't want to be solely focused on an outcome because I know what it takes to get there, but it's going to be exciting to go through that process and hopefully get to that point and that feeling again," said Burns. "It would be an awesome way to go out."
As a senior on the team, Burns has stepped into a leadership role and is determined to support his teammates in any way he can. He intends to use his knowledge to help his teammates that are underclassmen and new to the school adjust and thrive in this new environment.
"Another thing is just trying to be a leader and use the knowledge that I've culminated the past four years," said Burns. "Whether it's guys that have been in college basketball for a while but are new to the school, getting them used to being here at Michigan and what it's just like to be a student athlete here because it is different everywhere, or with the freshmen who are new to college basketball in general, just trying to give them a helping hand whenever they need it and being a resource and being as good of a teammate that I can be in this last year."
Although it will be difficult to say goodbye to the sport, Burns is cherishing his last season, through every practice and every rep and making the most of it. He is cherishing his last year at Michigan as well and is grateful to have been a part of the community throughout his time at the school.
"It's a community where everyone looks out for each other, where it's so competitive internally but in every other aspect of it, everyone looks out for each other," said Burns. "You're walking down the street saying, 'Go Blue' to a random person and I think it's just that community that Michigan has that I generally don't think any other university does have to the extent that we do and just being able to be a part of that is the most special thing about being here and all the people that that I've met, that's the one thing for sure."
When asked what advice he would give to incoming student athletes at Michigan, he emphasizes this sense of community and expresses that they should utilize the support network provided by the university.
"It is so hard with practice schedules, travel schedules, game schedules and then classes," Burns said. "Trying to balance that with the social life and being able to create those relationships that Michigan does have to offer, because that is a big part of it, has been so beneficial to me because there are so many moving parts.
"It's hard to expect an 18-year-old just to get it right away. It takes time, and obviously as a senior, I don't need the support as much as I did as a freshman because I know how it goes. I've been able to learn how to manage it on my own, but definitely coming into it as a freshman, the support staff make sure that all athletes get is huge and necessary for sure."
For those looking to play basketball in college, Burns offers one final piece of advice.
"You want to surround yourself with the right people, and a big part of this world is just networking and who you know. That's so big in the professional world," he said. "But it's big everywhere. Like in basketball, for example, you want to surround yourself with the right coaches and trainers that have the best interest for you. They also have a big network and they're going to put you in the best position possible to succeed because you still have to be seen. You have to find those people that are going to help you be seen and are going to want what's best for you and are going to go the extra mile to make sure that you are successful.
"Whether that's in basketball or just people in general trying to find a job after school, you want to meet people that are going to look out for your best interest."
• Scholar Stories Home
