After four years and two deployments to Iraq as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, Shane Preston, ’22, channeled his military experience and passion for service towards a legal career, serving in government in a new way.

“I had a lot of interest in history, so when I left the military, I went to Western Michigan University and studied political science, and I got involved with the legislature,” Preston said. “After I got my bachelor’s degree, I knew when I looked around at the legislature, a lot of the folks that were in leadership positions had a law degree.”

When he sought out pursuing his own legal education, Michigan State University College of Law was the only school he considered. As a Michigan native, he valued the law school’s reputation, and he was offered the Dawana and Daniel M. Downey Hockey Scholarship, which seeks to support a former hockey player or veteran at MSU Law.

Daniel Downey is a Spartan graduate as well as a member of the law school’s Class of 1976, having attended the institution when it was formerly in Detroit. “This is somebody that actually did something for us. He put his life on the line to keep us safe and blissfully ignorant of the danger out there,” Downey said, acknowledging Preston. “He deserves our gratitude and respect for what he did. I’m really pleased that he’s the recipient of the scholarship.”

With his goals of working in the government sector, Preston was inspired by MSU Law’s access to the state capital, he said, “If you want to work in government or public service – going to law school in a place where there’s not a capital, it’s really missing that key component of proximity.”

Throughout law school, he was able to continue his work with the legislature, noting how it helped him to understand the value of and directly apply what he was learning in the classroom. “As the semesters went on,” he explained, “it became easier to manage and pick up the core issues and be able to do less wondering and more focusing.”

As his law school career comes to a close, he’s particularly proud of the mark he’s made through co-founding the Michigan State University College of Law Student Veterans of America, growing from a handful of members to establishing an alumni associate membership of people who have graduated from MSU Law.