Commencement 2018 profile: Mira Shah

Mira Shah has been very busy the past four years.

Shah, an accounting major, is a resident assistant, a tour guide and president of the Accounting Association. She’s also been involved with the Dean’s Mentoring Program, the Dean’s Student Advisory Board, the EY Trajectory Program, Dickinson Town Council and the Emerging Leaders Program. Then there’s her three major internships — one of which led to the job she’ll begin after graduation.

“I don’t like not having anything to do,” Shah said. “I have to constantly be busy.”

Shah, whose parents are from India, was born and raised in Manhattan. She attended a STEM-specialized high school and thought about being a lawyer, but eventually chose accounting.

“I realized I’d been thinking about accounting the wrong way. It doesn’t pigeonhole you. In fact, it opens up a world of opportunities. You can go into any sector with accounting,” she said.

Her high school engineering courses came in handy as she developed an interest in her eventual concentration, management information systems.

“The tech background allowed me to understand the impact of rapidly evolving tech on business. I became very interested in understanding that impact and how businesses can adapt and change,” she said.

As her time at Binghamton comes to a close, Shah is also very interested in understanding the impact the University has had on her.

“I feel like I’d been fed this idea that you have to go to a prestigious private school in order to land your dream job. But I didn’t realize how mistaken I was. I came to campus for the first time and something just clicked. Something felt very right,” Shah said.

Her confidence in her decision to attend Binghamton was solidified when she was accepted into the Dean’s Mentoring Program, which connects outstanding School of Management (SOM) freshmen and sophomores with upperclassmen mentors, real-world professionals, recruiters, alumni and SOM Dean and Koffman Scholar Upinder Dhillon.

“I looked around at my fellow mentees, and everyone was so impressive. They were valedictorians, class presidents, varsity athletes — I never thought I measured up to them. But here I was,” Shah said. “And in that moment, I remember having this feeling of, ‘Yeah, I’m supposed to be here.’”

And with that, Shah took every opportunity that came her way.

“The educational process goes well beyond just going to class and performing well — that is a given. Binghamton gives you many opportunities to develop yourself in all dimensions, and Mira is someone who has taken advantage of those opportunities,” Dhillon said. “She does everything in an exceptional manner and has great leadership potential because of it.”

“Mira is exceptional because she’s eager to be involved. She wants to lend a helping hand, and I’ve never known her to turn down an opportunity, no matter how far-fetched it seems,” said Katie Collette, an undergraduate advisor in SOM.

Collette has known Shah since her freshman year and was her mentor in the Emerging Leaders Program. As part of a service-learning project, Shah helped a troop of local Girl Scouts earn Junior Business Owner badges. Since then, Collette has watched Shah take on more and more leadership roles.

One of those is president of the Accounting Association, a club that was created during Shah’s junior year.

“When you’re president of a club — especially a new club — it’s like having a baby. You don’t want anything to happen to your baby. You just want to see it grow and be healthy,” she said.

One of the ways she’s helping it grow is by hosting a brand-new audit-themed case competition. The goal is to introduce audit as a service-line option to freshmen and sophomore accounting majors, who typically don’t dive into the topic until their upperclass years.

“What’s great about Binghamton’s nationally ranked accounting program is that you can start lining up offers by sophomore or junior year. But it’s hard to know which service line to get into if you haven’t really learned the difference between audit and tax and advisory yet,” Shah said. “We wanted to create a fun way that would allow students to determine early on if audit was a career path for them.”

Shah has participated in a number of case competitions herself, which can often be intense experiences — as can being a resident assistant. Through it all she’s learned consistent lessons on how to handle these stressful situations.

“I’ve learned to remain calm, take a deep breath, never show that you’re scared or are being thrown off, maintain eye contact and just do the task to the best of your ability,” she said. “You have to stay centered.”

Shah said her final weeks at Binghamton have been bittersweet.

“I’m going to miss everyone here — my friends, my mentors, my professors and everyone who’s helped me along the way. But I’m excited for what’s next. I’m excited to start this next chapter.”

After graduation, Shah will travel to India to spend time with family. She’ll also visit Dubai for the first time. In August, she’ll begin working at EY in New York City, in the Risk Advisory Practice, where she’ll be helping banks and hedge funds ensure that the risks surrounding their IT systems are controlled.

When asked what advice she would give her freshman-self if she could, Shah didn’t hesitate to answer.

“The beauty of Binghamton is in the balance. Believe in yourself, try new things and don’t be afraid to fail,” she said.

“Oh — and also remember to have fun.”