I’m sure you’ve very rarely heard of a child that wanted to be a garbage truck driver— but Mr. Mike Shukis said that was just what he wanted to be when he was super young. While that may be pretty surprising, Mr. Shukis told me that he changed his focus a lot, and changed his “major four times in college before deciding on business” for undergrad.
Mr. Shukis was busy throughout his middle and high school year, and during this he played two to three sports. Him and his two brothers frequently spent time with their grandparents, since most of his family lived in Omaha. Mr. Shukis explained that he focused much of his time on practicing and playing golf during high school.
Mr. Shukis “went to University of Nebraska Kearney for one year to play golf and the transferred to UNO to play golf.” His degree in undergrad was business administration/management and his master’s degrees at UNO were in exercise science and business administration.
“My first experience with organized strength and conditioning was in college,” Mr. Shukis told me. He had several volunteer and job opportunities that exposed him to the field he teaches in today.
Mr. Shukis went to Gross High School and played BT in golf, so he’d “always known about BT”. He had spoken with athletic director Mr. Rohrig about the fitness coach position and in 2022, Mr. Shukis applied. He stated that he, “thought it was a great opportunity to help students” and that he has “always enjoyed working with people and teams”. He doesn’t have too many plans about his future, except to “help make things a little better each day.”
As a piece of wisdom for current students, Mr. Shukis said to “find something you enjoy and work hard at it. Do things for the right reasons. Treat people well.” One of his favorite quotes was “What is my job on the planet? What is it that needs doing, that I know something about, that probably won’t happen unless I take responsibility for it?” That, Mr. Shukis informed me, was his advice for his students.
