Shaniece J. Miller

I attribute my success to my family, honestly. To have the support, it doesn't matter what I do, it doesn't matter where I go, my family is my sounding board. They are the arms that hold me tight. They are the eyes in the back of my head. They are everything, they are the wealth that is not money. Even all the way here in North Carolina, they literally have created a calendar and they take turns coming to see me so that I know that I'm never alone. I never feel thousands of miles away from them because they're very intentional about loving on me while I venture and make this power move of a career choice. They're all rooting for me, always calling me, always texting me, always sending me care packages. I'm so grateful for my family.

The best career advice I've received was to really honor the process of each opportunity that I have, each role. Honor the process, the good, the bad, everything. Embrace it all because it all serves a purpose. And two, to really take initiative when opportunities come my way. If it aligns with me as a person, as a woman, as a professional, don't shy away from it. Explore it and see what could come out of it. I'm so glad that was the advice I received because it has really opened up so many doors for me. I've been able to sit at tables and be in rooms that I probably wouldn't have had I not taken those opportunities head on.

The advice I would give to a young woman, whether she's in my profession or not, is to know your own identity. Know who you are as a person, as a woman, before your career. What grounds you? What sustains you? What does self-care look like for you? How do you navigate problems? Because those versions of you are going to show up in your career. It is very important to know your identity and know who you are and know what you believe in before you even take on a career, because those versions of you and those belief systems and that discipline will show up in your career. I'm very big on identity. Who are you? What does your heart and your mind and your soul align with? What pulls you? What fulfills you? It all comes back to identity, knowing who you are.

The biggest challenges we're facing have a lot to do with the state of our world and our government. The institution I work for is a high research institution, currently an R2 with high research activity, and we're positioned very well to become R1, which is the premier and elite recognition an institution can have. One of our biggest problems is with international students. We have a huge international student population, and the issue we're having is international students being able to study and travel to the U.S. With everything that's going on in some countries, that's becoming impossible. What was once an opportunity to access an education has become a challenge, unfortunately, due to the state of our world. With that also comes funding issues, or the lack of funding, because you do have to have funding for those students. These are two big, heavy situations to have at one time. We're doing the best that we can, navigating these hard times. While AI and technology are helping us remove some barriers and advance, there are just some things that technology cannot replace when it comes to the human aspect of things, especially in research where you need to be in the lab.

Family is most important to me, along with my community of friends and sisters. I'm biologically an only child, though God gave me a little brother who I'm grateful for, but we're many years apart and I could technically be his mom. After my family, my community of friends and sisters that I have, I'm just immensely grateful for my community. And after that, it's education. I'm very proud of all of my life experiences. When people ask who is Shaniece Miller, I always tell them I am a mosaic. I have a combination of all things that make up something beautiful. I love mosaics and stained glass because they align with who I am. If you know anything about mosaics, they're just a combination of broken glass pieces or broken things, and we see this beautiful art piece, but what makes it up is a combination of broken things. I'm a combination of all of the things, the good and the not-so-pretty things, the decisions, the choices, whatever. Even those have made me into the woman and the professional that I am today, and I'm grateful for all of it. Grace and gratitude are very important to me.