Notre Dame student’s unique family featured on Oprah

Henry Shine is a Finance student at the Mendoza College of Business

Many say parenting is one of the toughest jobs out there. Now imagine a dad doing it alone and having nine children.

The Shine family from Fort Wayne recently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The oldest son Henry Shine is a sophomore at Notre Dame.

Henry Shine may look like a typical student at Notre Dame; but his home life is anything but typical. He has eight siblings, seven of which were adopted after Henry’s mother passed away.

“Just because it’s not typical doesn’t mean it’s not great,” he told WSBT News. “It’s one of the most exciting things to be involved with, it just never stops and there’s always something to do.”

Oprah recently featured Henry’s family on a show called “Unforgettable Dads.”

Henry’s dad Larry starts the day at 3 a.m. each day to get everyone ready and out the door.

Henry says the show made the family look squeaky clean.

“We all looked very pressed and clean on the show. It’s not all that easy! There are certainly times when people are fighting, and there’s a lot of turmoil a lot of times, but at the end of the day it all works out,” he said.

Henry has dreams of working in finance and adopting children of his own.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if all nine of us do,” he said. “My dad … it’s not like he’s instilled that into us; it’s just we’ve seen what he’s done, proud of him, and want to do something like that to help people in need.”

Classmates did watch his TV debut. But Henry says the real star is his father.

And maybe he will even get a date or two thanks to the show … that is if he finds the time!

“What I expect is a bunch of women will start sending him letters and stuff!” Henry said.

Henry says being from such a large family prepared him for Notre Dame because he learned at an early age to be independent.

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