There are many words to describe Connor Murphy: a dedicated swimmer, a passionate musician, a curious mathematician, a motivated student, and a trusted leader. As part of the Varsity Swim Team, Marching and Concert Band, and UIL Academic Team, I sure have quite the busy schedule. On top of that, I surprised myself by retaking the Valedictorian position in the Class of 2025 at my school, and, after admission into the National Honor Society, I was elected president of the program by my peers. But of all these different activities, I really believe it has been my dedication to swimming that has most shaped the hard-working person I am today. Many people mistake swimming for an easy sport, and I’ve even seen students enter the sport expecting a light burden for their athletic credit… only to find they’ve made a terrible mistake because it is much harder than someone might imagine. The swim schedule is pretty intense with two-hour practices at 7 AM every morning, which includes weight training and swimming exercises. Added to every other activity I take part in (along with some challenging curriculum during school), this can make for quite the tiring week. Every practice is devoted to one goal–to get faster. And each swim meet is an opportunity to see if that work has paid off. I can remember many times during a swim practice when Coach “Hutch,” as we call him, slowly writes the next set out on a whiteboard facing away from us until he finally flips the board – and we stare at it, thinking that it looks impossible to get through. I always tell myself, “Just do what you can,” and then push off the wall and start swimming. I take stroke by stroke, using what little rest I have to stop at the wall and motivate myself to keep going, and once I get halfway through, I’m usually hurting pretty bad. But then the end just seems so close, and at that point, it doesn’t make sense to stop there, and all of a sudden, I get to the wall and I know I made it. Sometimes it’s in disbelief, and always out of breath, but often with a reaffirming sense of confidence: The confidence that I have what it takes to be a persevering swimmer. After five years of these practices, there have already been hundreds just like this and, undoubtedly, even some that I fail to complete. Nonetheless, the physical effort and mental drive that is required to accomplish anything in the pool has had a lasting impact on me and has turned me into a much stronger, more committed individual, not just in swimming, but in all aspects of my life. Although I will not continue swimming on a team in college, I do plan to keep the same mindset that swimming has taught me–the perspective of pushing myself to my limits and working hard to accomplish whatever comes my way. Hopefully, that means putting my effort into becoming an engineer at Texas A&M University in College Station and, later on, into having a successful career and being an example for my family, friends, and anyone else I come to meet. Thanks to swimming, I know that I will be a committed, persevering, and dedicated man, and my experiences have prepared me to live with an unstoppable drive in everything I will do.

My military family member is my dad, Wayne Murphy, who made it to the rank of Commander in the Navy. Unlike many others in the military, he served in the Medical Corps, beginning as a general medical officer, then a flight surgeon, and finally, after a four-year residency, he served as a radiologist, helping save countless lives. He started his career stationed at NAS Corpus Christi in Texas, where I was born, and our family moved with him to duty stations at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California, the Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan, Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital in Oceanside, California, and then returned to Corpus Christi. A year and a half ago, he retired after 20 years of service. Since we’ve lived in a variety of places, I have many fond memories of my dad and our family. We have had some unique experiences during his time of service, with most of our adventures occurring while we were stationed in Okinawa. One of these adventures had to do with the food choices in Asia. My brother, Brendon, and I were very young when we lived there (he was about 3, and I was around 5), and unfortunately, we were not up to eating food we didn’t recognize. Going out to eat was usually problematic. Our first trip off the island of Okinawa was to Hong Kong. For dinner, our dad asked the concierge at the hotel for a kid-friendly restaurant, and he sent us to a fancy Chinese restaurant with white tablecloths and cloth napkins. However, the menu wasn’t available in English, and the waiters spoke minimal English at the restaurant. Our parents tried to order a family meal, and plates of unrecognizable food started appearing. My brother and I only ate white rice, but my mom and dad were brave enough to try webbed duck feet! We ended up leaving and paying the bill, surrendering to a McDonald’s a couple of blocks away. Another of these experiences was during a trip to Seoul, Korea for spring break. My brother and I were blond-haired and blue-eyed, so we stuck out big time when we left the base and traveled. We visited the Korean War Memorial, which had tanks, helicopters, and other military vehicles that had been used in the war. There were a lot of other museum visitors from other countries there, and they began to stop us to take photos with them. At one point, there was a line of people waiting to take photos with us! My brother started to get upset, and our dad had to tell the people to leave us alone, and we quickly went inside the museum to get away. Over all these years, watching my dad work hard to help others and take care of our family, he has been a huge example for me to follow. He’s taught me how to be committed and follow through on promises. He was dedicated to helping people as a radiologist and always tried to give people hope when he had to deliver hard news. His time in the military was challenging, but he carried on and served his country. I am very blessed to have him as my father, and I am proud of his service.

When I walked into the doctor’s office about eight years ago, I had no clue that this visit would be much different from any other. The doctors asked me some questions, took urine and blood samples, and suddenly I was being placed in an ambulance and taken to the local children’s hospital, just three days before my tenth birthday. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Soon enough, I realized this wasn’t only a temporary setback–it was now a permanent change in my life. There would now be countless finger pricks, insulin injections, pump and glucose monitor changes, and much more, all demanding my attention every day. However, I believe that my diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes has shaped me to be a more organized, responsible, and determined individual. At the time, I didn’t really think much of it. As someone who has always enjoyed challenges, I treated diabetes as any other obstacle: something to overcome and excel at. I quickly figured out the process to take care of myself and went back to school the next week. The nurses and teachers were very supportive of me, yet things were different since I now had to frequently check my glucose levels. Aside from dealing with diabetes at school, at home, meals required that I carefully calculate carbohydrate counts, and nights were now interrupted by glucose alerts demanding that I get out of bed. Now in high school, I am a very busy student involved with activities like marching band, swimming, UIL math academic teams, and typical school classes. Managing diabetes has been a whole new challenge with many other factors affecting my blood sugar levels and competing for my attention. In the pool, I don’t have access to my glucose levels, and in the classroom, my focus is on the teacher and my classwork. Nonetheless, I’ve found a way to make it all work, juggling my school priorities while staying vigilant about my health. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed, but looking back, I have a different perspective. All of these annoying alarms, interruption-filled days, and endless decisions related to diabetes were not just inconveniences to take care of and then forget. They have driven me to push myself further in every aspect of my life. These small, everyday tasks taught me to expect the unexpected, be more detail-oriented, and, most importantly, be open and willing to take on more challenges. In many ways, Type 1 Diabetes has been the key to my high school success. Currently, I have been accepted into the engineering program at Texas A&M University College Station and will begin this fall. I’m excited to study there and have access to their facilities and staff as well as their incredible research and internship options. I know it will be challenging, both from an academic and diabetic standpoint, but the perseverance, maturity, and organizational skills I have learned living with Type 1 Diabetes have prepared me to succeed. No matter what comes my way, I am ready to take it on–the same way I have been for the past eight years.

The concepts of engineering have fascinated me ever since I went to elementary school. I have always enjoyed my mathematics and science classes because they let me think about why things might happen rather than just what happened. I remember the first time I thought about engineering was when I was in kindergarten playing with my LEGO toys trying to build a car. My grandpa watched how I reinforced the car’s underside with LEGO pieces to keep it together, and he told me, “You know, I think you would be a good engineer when you get older.” I probably had no idea what that really meant at the time, but now, in my senior year of high school, I believe that is the right direction for me. Nowadays, I better understand the challenges a career in engineering might bring. From 6th to 8th grade, I competed in the Texas Math and Science Coaches Association and was part of the state championship mathematics team. I found a love for mathematics and learned to handle pressure well in a competitive environment. Leading into high school, I continued my academic ambitions along with being a swimmer on the varsity swim team, a passionate musician playing the trumpet in the school band, and having the privilege of being president of the National Honor Society at my school. As a member of many activities, I’ve developed a hard-working mentality and have learned to push through difficult things, which will help me not just as a student, but as a person too. Meanwhile, in school, I’ve enjoyed challenging classes like calculus and physics, which have strengthened my desire to be an engineer. In physics, our teacher assigns group projects to design and construct. Some of these include making a trebuchet, a mousetrap car, a Rube-Goldberg machine, and even a mini-railgun. Every single one of these assignments never worked on the first try and needed some modifications. However, this taught me important problem-solving skills and innovation as well as teamwork with my physics groups. Most recently, building on what I’ve learned in school, I participated in Texas A&M University Kingsville’s high school engineering program this past summer. My group was assigned to work on experimenting with the optimal truss bridge designs, and we looked at factors such as forces on truss components, minimizing material costs, and prioritizing safety. It was a great experience to see everything involved with engineering projects such as building bridges, and it just makes me more eager to get started in my college studies. Currently, I’ve been accepted into the engineering program at Texas A&M University College Station and will begin this fall. It is an outstanding opportunity to be able to study there and have access to their facilities and staff as well as their incredible research and internship options. I’ll first take general engineering classes before applying for a specific engineering degree (possibly mechanical or electrical engineering). Although Texas A&M can be expensive, I value the education I will receive there and believe it will give me a great foundation for my professional career. This scholarship would be a great help to deal with tuition costs, and I know that my determined mindset and hard-working character will lead me to success. I thank you for your consideration.