Scholar Stories: Heinen Uncovers Patent Law Interest, Using Fifth Year to Explore New Career Venture
9/25/2024 10:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
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
Mary Caroline Heinen is a graduate transfer on the University of Michigan women's cross country team whose variety of academic and professional experiences have helped her discover a unique career path.
As a child, Heinen excelled in her math classes and tried to figure out how things worked. She carried these interests throughout her academic career and ultimately decided to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at Columbia, where she earned her undergraduate degree and was a member of the cross country and track teams. She liked how broad mechanical engineering was but as she gained more professional experiences, Heinen uncovered a new interest that she did not expect. During her sophomore year, she was searching for student jobs and found an opening in her university's patent office and found an interest in patent law.
"It got me involved in the idea that it was something I could do," said Heinen. "I wanted to touch on more topics and get a broader engineering background. I just fell into it but I ended up really liking it."
She later worked as a summer intern at a law office in Chicago and was able to gain real experience in patent law, which helped her officially decide that she wanted to attend law school in the future. As she applies and prepares for law school, she has decided to pursue a Master of Management in the Ross School of Business to provide her with the business knowledge necessary to help the clients she will work with in the future. So far, she is extremely happy with her experience in the Master of Management (MM) program and feels that it is providing her with beneficial skills for her career in patent law.
"I like that there's a lot of group work and simulations, and the teachers really try to make it applicable," Heinen said. "The summer classes were more of an overview, but now the fall classes are building on those concepts. I can really see where it's relevant, even though I'm coming at it from a different perspective."
While at Michigan, Heinen is also expanding her understanding of patent law through an additional work experience. She works at the Tech Transfer Office for Michigan Innovation Partnership, where she performs market research and writes technology reports. In this role, she gets to look at the different technologies that people have submitted to the department and write reports for them.
"Working for the Tech Transfer Office at Michigan has been really interesting," Heinen said. "I'm really lucky to be able to look at patent law from a bunch of different perspectives."
Her journey to cross country was more linear than her academic journey and once she discovered her love for running, she never wanted to stop. Heinen began running cross country as a freshman in high school but only joined the team because one of her friends was on it. However, she quickly found success in the sport and by her junior year of high school she was getting recruited by various universities across the country. Although Heinen wanted to continue running competitively in college, she did not want to sacrifice the value she placed in academics. This is something that shaped her decision of her undergraduate university and also her recent decision to use her extra year of eligibility at Michigan.
"Michigan fits the idea that I had going into undergrad. It has a really good academic program without sacrificing the athletics," Heinen said. "Michigan was the perfect combination of that. It's a really high-level running program but I'm also getting a degree that means something."
In addition to the rigorous academics at Michigan, Heinen was also motivated to transfer by one goal that she still wants to achieve before she stops running competitively. She has always wanted to compete at the NCAA Championships and thinks that Michigan is the perfect program to help her get there.
"I've been improving, and felt like there was more I could do with running," said Heinen. "I've always wanted to be at NCAA nationals. Michigan has had a history of almost always making it to nationals. I think that was one thing that felt like unfinished business. I might as well bet on myself for an extra year."
Although Heinen's journey at Michigan is just beginning, she is already amazed by the community and atmosphere she has already found. Her previous university was located in a big city, so she has enjoyed the strong college atmosphere present in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan.
"Ann Arbor and Michigan are very into school pride and there's definitely a big community," said Heinen. "It's a really cool experience to be surrounded by everything. It's been a little bit of a culture shock, but it's a great environment. There's a lot of school pride, even after you graduate."
She has experienced this same sense of community in her classes and is grateful for the collaborative nature of the management program. Heinen appreciates how the program is cohort-based and feels that it has helped her integrate herself into the Michigan community.
"I have all my classes with the same cohort of people. It's another form of community where you know all the people in your classes because it's a small group that you see everyday," Heinen said. "That's been another way to assimilate into the Michigan culture because I know a bunch of people from the program."
Heinen has also found a strong community in her teammates, who have both welcomed and motivated her. She was in Ann Arbor for the summer because she was taking classes for the MM program, and during that time got the opportunity to bond with many of her teammates before the season started.
"They were super welcoming but they're also really serious about this. You can feel it," Heinen said. "When we go out and work out, you can tell that everyone has super high goals for running. It's a good team and they refer to it as a family and not a team. It's important how you feel when you're a part of it."
As she reflects upon her journey as a student-athlete, Heinen has a few pieces of advice for other student-athletes. She credits her success in the classroom to the ability to stay organized. Although it can be difficult to manage different priorities, she stresses the importance of establishing a good routine, and planning time to complete tasks. As for her success in her sport, Heinen emphasized that consistency is key, especially through difficult circumstances and challenges.
"If you keep showing up and giving 100% at practice, you will see results," she said. "It just takes time and consistency."
And for those looking to run at the collegiate level, Heinen believes that running has a place for everyone.
"There's a program for everyone," she said. "Running is such an accessible sport, and if you want to do it and are passionate about it, you should do it."
Players Mentioned
