Scholar Stories: Grant Combines Passion, Curiosity to Craft Her Path
12/4/2024 10:20:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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 Danielle Hersh
University of Michigan women's lacrosse player Brynne Grant loved putting things together and taking them apart growing up. Combined with her interest in math and science, Grant's curiosity about how the world worked around her has translated into a desire to study mechanical engineering while at Michigan.
In sixth grade, Grant was sidelined by a broken foot that kept her from a summer of playing club sports. Determined to find something else to fill her time, Grant decided to start a garden. The first step in her project was to build the planter boxes.
"I can't really remember anything about the garden, but I just remember I loved building the boxes for some reason. I kind of got obsessed with building stuff out of wood," Grant said.
Although her start in woodworking came with the challenge of unfamiliarity, Grant resorted to learning all she could.
"Sometimes I just didn't know what I was doing. I think everyone thinks my dad is some master craftsman who taught me everything that I know, but he can't screw in a lightbulb by himself -- he's so unhandy," Grant said, laughing. "I always resorted to the internet and YouTube videos, but that can only take you so far when you have no one else to ask. I think it's just that I developed skills of independence, and figured out how to make it work with what I had."
Now a freshman at Michigan, Grant plans to employ her love for building and her innate curiosity to get the most out of her time at Michigan in academics and athletics.
"Michigan's engineering program is a huge reason why I picked Michigan -- it's just second to none. I'll have access to every resource I could ever imagine. My mindset is focused on taking as many classes as possible and just really seeing what captivates my interest," she said. "I think it's just a matter of exposing myself to as much as possible and seeing where that takes me."
Another key reason Grant chose Michigan was its lacrosse program and the potential she saw for success on the field.
"The ultimate goal, whether it's this year when I'm not playing or in the future, is winning a national championship with this team," Grant said. "I truly believe it's going to happen, I have no doubt. Watching my teammates and their drive and motivation is so inspiring to me every day."
Grant attributes her drive to pursue the best version of herself in academics and athletics to her parents, who helped her succeed academically and athletically.
"My number one support system. They've always instilled the value of hard work in me, more than anything else," Grant said. "It's the lesson that long-term hard work is going to get you somewhere. They've always pushed me and encouraged me to discover what the best version of myself looks like."
Grant approaches her time on the field and in the classroom as embodiments of the value her parents instilled in her, especially when she first started learning the sport of lacrosse and now as she begins her engineering coursework.
"Walking into something, being the worst one and having to keep coming back, was hard. I'm so competitive, so it was really hard coming out of practice being like, 'Wow. I really am the worst one here,' and then going back the next week and being like, 'I'm going to stick at it.' I think that's the same thing in the classroom, especially at Michigan," Grant said. "Michigan engineering, these kids are geniuses and I'm not the smartest one in the room, by any means. But, just working hard and coming back every day, that lesson of hard work really does get you somewhere in life."
In reflection of her hard work, Grant built an entire set of bedroom furniture for her room at home, an impressive evolution from her first build of garden planter boxes more than six years ago.
"I've just gotten so much better since then and have really stuck with it and love it. It kind of just progressed into me convincing my parents, when we moved, to let me build my bedroom furniture instead of buy it," she said. "That all turned out really well and I've commissioned a few pieces since then. It's something that I don't think I'll do as a profession, but something I'll do for my whole life."
Grant also has a future project in mind, related to her love for travel.
"Those camper vans that people convert into mini homes," she said. "I've always wanted to make one of those and take on the world in it, so I'd say that. It's pretty ambitious, but we'll see."
Whether it be on the field, in the classroom, or in woodworking, Grant plans to continue falling back on her passions and core values as she moves forward in her time at Michigan. Grant advises that young athletes interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields do the same.
"I think, if you're really passionate about it, stick with it. Sometimes you're going to be the only one in the room that's an athlete, or interested in athletics, but that shouldn't deter you," she said. "I think that the values that sports give you are definitely applicable in whatever field you end up going into, including STEM. You're not going to be the smartest one in the room at all times, but that does not mean you don't belong there. Use your passion to fuel you, and make sure you really love what you're doing, and then run with that."
