Miller entered law school in 2003 after graduating from the University of Houston with a B.A. in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Miller is currently a 3L at Boston College Law School and will graduate in May. While she may not be what many consider a traditional law student, Miller is glad she chose to pursue her law degree.
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"I have never taken the traditional path to anything I've ever done," Miller said. "With law school, I know that the knowledge base and the way I have learned to think and ask questions will be incredibly helpful in all of the other work I am doing."
Despite the fact that she has enjoyed her time in law school and her studies, Miller did not attend law school in hopes of becoming a lawyer. As a gymnast, business owner, and general source of media interest, she said, she had been signing contracts for years without fully knowing what she was signing—an idea that frightened her. She said that going to law school seemed like the best way to get the knowledge she "desperately needed."
"Law school is already incredibly intimidating, and at first I was terrified I would have the wrong answer when called on in class and make a complete fool of myself," Miller said. "But after going through some personal challenges along the way, all of that seemed silly. I finally got to a point where I realized I don't have to be perfect. If I have the wrong answer in class, it's okay. School is about learning. And I'd much rather make the mistake in class and learn from it than make it in the real world, where you are dealing with real people's lives."
Miller said she went into law school not expecting anyone to know who she was, and then, somewhere along the way, she realized that everyone knew. She said that added to the pressure at first. In the end, she found her peers to be extremely kind and realized that they were all in it together. She said that her classmates have been the most influential people she has met while in law school.
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Miller grew up in Edmond, OK. Her mother is a vice president of a local bank, and her father is a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma. She has two siblings: an older sister who is enrolled in an M.D./Ph.D. program and a younger brother studying physics engineering. She said that she began her gymnastics career at just five years old and that she loved it from the first day.
As she was painfully shy as a child, gymnastics was a way for Miller to really show her personality. When she was eight, she began training at Dynamo Gymnastics, an Oklahoma-based training center. By the age of 11, she was competing internationally. She participated in the 1992 summer Olympics, where she won silver medals for all-around and the beam and bronze medals for the floor, bars, and team categories.
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She returned to the Olympics in 1996 as part of the "Magnificent Seven," a team that also included Dominique Dawes, Dominique Moceanu, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden, and Jaycie Phelps. The Magnificent Seven went on to capture the team gold, and Miller won the first and only gold medal for America on the balance beam. In 2000, Miller was looking forward to making her third Olympic appearance in Sydney but, after suffering a broken leg, was not selected. Instead, she served as an analyst for MSNBC's coverage of the Games.
Today, Miller resides in Florida, and while national appearances have kept her busy, she has focused much of her attention on health and fitness. She is passionate about working with people of all ages in order to help them live healthier lifestyles.
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Just last year, Miller started the Shannon Miller Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. In March, Florida Governor Charlie Crist appointed Miller to the Governor's Council of Physical Fitness along with Jennifer Capriati, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Shaquille O'Neal. This summer, she will open the Texas Sports Ranch, a summer gymnastics camp, in Houston along with fellow Olympic gymnast Peter Kormann.
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"These are the areas where I feel I can make a real difference in peoples' lives," Miller said.
