Scholar Stories: Cemented as a Star, Boehm Found Passion in Community, Real Estate
3/27/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse, Features
Continuing the 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 Absopure.
By Mya Fromwiller
Michael Boehm, a senior on the University of Michigan men's lacrosse team, recalls that his love for lacrosse has always been synonymous with a love for U-M lacrosse.
He began playing the sport as a result of his older brother and sister, who both played while he was growing up. Although lacrosse was not popular in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, the influence of his siblings -- one of whom played club lacrosse at the University of Michigan -- got him started. Boehm remembers watching his sister, and her now husband -- a captain of Michigan's first Division I men's lacrosse team -- play on campus, and falling in love with both the university and its lacrosse program.
As Boehm began to play lacrosse at a more competitive level, he developed an even greater passion for the sport and decided that he wanted to pursue a collegiate career. Although he had offers from several universities, he had no doubt that Michigan was the place he wanted to be.
"It was somewhere that I fell in love with," said Boehm. "The energy of the Michigan community and Ann Arbor is something that I always loved when coming up to visit.
"Ann Arbor is the best college town in America. The combination of that and so much academic and athletic success is why I wanted to come here."
As a university, he admired Michigan's strong academic and athletic culture, and felt that it would set him up for success in both areas. However, he also was drawn to how new the lacrosse program was.
"It was a unique opportunity, and also a bit of a challenge, to create your own legacy and help build up a great program," Boehm said.
Throughout his time at U-M, Boehm has made the impact that he always hoped for, and has earned many accolades such as Big Ten Tournament MVP, All-Big Ten first team and US Lacrosse Player of the Week. He is the second Wolverine in program history to reach 200 career points and has solidified his status as one of the program's greatest attackmen.
Although he is grateful for the successes he has had on the field, Boehm is also extremely grateful for the team that surrounds him and loves being able to play lacrosse with some of his best friends.
"It's a super close team that operates like a family. We go through a lot of highs and lows together, and spend a lot of time with each other," Boehm said. "We've built such great relationships, and when you spend that much time together, you're going to create really unique bonds. That's something special about this program, and it's something that I would never trade.""
Boehm's time at Michigan has brought many great memories, but the one that really sticks out to him is the team winning the Big Ten Championship last year.
However, that victory was not just meaningful to Boehm and the members of the team. He recalls feeling support from the broader community that follows and supports Michigan lacrosse.
"It was great seeing how much it meant to the Michigan lacrosse community as a whole. We've only been a program for 13 years, but the club program prior is super involved and engaged," Boehm said. "They love coming back to campus and hearing what's going on in the Michigan lacrosse program today. We're a young program but there's so much history. We could feel how much the win meant to the people who played in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and the Michigan lacrosse community as a whole."
This strong sense of community is something Boehm values and is something that he has been able to find in the classroom as well. He always knew he wanted to major in business and officially transferred into the Ross School of Business after his freshman year. He was drawn to Ross because of its expansive curriculum and wanted the opportunity to explore different areas of business, such as finance, strategy and operations. However, Boehm also admired the emphasis on collaboration and group work and hoped it would allow him to meet new people.
As his time at Ross comes to an end, he appreciates how this focus on group work has allowed him to meet people from all different backgrounds and connect with them on a deeper level. This has helped him find a strong community in Ross and form many connections that have continued outside the classroom as well.
After graduation, Boehm will pursue a career in commercial real estate and move to New York City. Although he never envisioned himself choosing this career path, talks with alumni and an internship in that field helped him develop a passion for commercial real estate. Looking back, he acknowledged that this career aligns well with the things he enjoyed most during his time at Ross, such as strategy coursework and the ability to work closely with others. He enjoys how commercial real estate allows him to combine analytical work with relationship building and is excited to begin his career.
Although his career is set after graduation, his time as a lacrosse player might not be coming to an end. He is considering playing professional lacrosse and said he would take the opportunity if it presented itself.
Boehm found success both in the classroom and on the field and as he reflects on his time at Michigan, he advises student-athletes to step outside their comfort zone and find ways to challenge themselves.
"Find different ways to challenge yourself and find different people to challenge you," he said. "It's so easy to get into a routine when you're a student-athlete because your life is determined by a schedule. Being a student-athlete comes with its own challenges, but don't be afraid to seek them out as well. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will help you grow both as a player and a student."
