National Merit Scholar to study physics
Nicole Tavenner
Connor Murphy is riding high as he prepares for college and life beyond.
Nicole Tavenner
Connor Murphy, 18, is one of only 8,000 students nationwide to earn become a National Merit Scholar.
Nicole Tavenner
When Connor isn’t tutoring college students in calculus, he plays soccer, ulitmate Frisbee, and practices his agility skills at his home north of Polson.
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
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Connor Murphy ran up the tree trunk as if he were a tree frog with suction cup feet and quickly flipped over, sticking his landing. The 18-year-old laughed and did it again. While he’s agile, fast, able to jump and perform twisting jackknife dives on the trampoline, Connor has an engaging personality, a fine mind and a loving family — and he’s a National Merit Scholar, the only one in Lake County.
He’ll be attending Grove City College this fall. The college is about an hour north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It stood out to Connor since it was a Christian university, but one with a strong math and science program. Grove City also has outstanding career service opportunities.
“Within six months of graduation,” Connor said, “students will have a job or will be getting into a graduate program.”
National Merit Scholars are selected on the basis of their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test taken in their junior year of high school. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has been in existence since 1955, and the PSATs test students on critical reading, mathematics and writing skills. Approximately 16,000 students nationwide are selected as semi-finalists, and 8,000 Commended Scholars receive notification in February that they are finalists.
During his elementary school years, Connor was home schooled, as were his seven brothers and sisters, until he attended Mission Valley Christian Academy his freshman and sophomore years.
The deal between Connor’s parents Ann and Jack Murphy was that she’d teach the children until they could read fluently and then he would take over. Unfortunately Jack died when Connor was three, and Ann and the children went on.
“Jack built this house with his own hands, peeling the logs. He milled the lumber for this table,” Ann said, gesturing to the long golden trestle table in the kitchen.
She added that it’s nice to always have a piece of him around them.
“I don’t really know what it’s like to have a father,” Connor said.
Jason Edwards, his brother-in-law, stepped in and took a fatherly role. Edwards flew to Grove City College with Connor, took him on a college visit to Montana State University and has helped with applications and scholarships.
Connor credited his mother with doing a good job raising him and teaching him. When Connor needed more math, Ann said a neighbor, Connie Doty, tutored him through 7th and 8th grade algebra and algebra II. Then he went to MVCA.
One of his favorite classes at MVCA was Russian language.
“The hardest part is learning the alphabet, but the language is simpler than English,” Connor said.
He would have continued at MVCA but he needed advanced science and math courses so he’s been commuting to Flathead Valley Community College for the past couple of years, taking calculus II and III, physics and differential equations, the highest level math class FVCC has to offer.
“My favorite class? The short answer is undergraduate research,” Connor said.
He’s been researching fuel cells.
“The fuel cell is an open system. It takes oxygen from the air to run the battery,” he said. “There are a lot of nice things about it, and a lot of problems with it. I’m trying to work out the kinks to potentially commercialize it.”
Connor visited with professors at Grove City College and is now leaning towards physics as a major.
He’s been sharing his grasp of math by tutoring a calculus I student at FVCC and math and pre-calculus high school pupils at MVCA.
“Connor’s delight and gifting is in understanding and enjoying mathematical concepts and problems,” Edwards said.
Connor’s also a soccer player and an Ultimate Frisbee player.
“As Connor’s coach, I’ve watched him progress from being a player who merely works hard on the field to being a co-coach who develops other players and pursues excellence in his skills. Early on Connor would often push himself to the point of utter exhaustion in practices,” Edwards said.
“Ultimate Frisbee is a mix between football, soccer and basketball,” Connor explained.
With seven players on each team, the goal is to catch the disc in the end zone. Players can’t move when they are holding the disc.
He said more and more teams are forming, and he’s been coaching his MVCA team because the coach can’t attend all the practices.
“I like it more than soccer,” Connor said, smiling.
It happens that besides its strong math and science departments, Grove City College also is known for its good Ultimate Frisbee teams — in the school’s top 10 intramural sports as well as a club team.
Another large park of Connor’s life is his faith.
“My favorite book is the Bible,” he said. “First and last what I want to do, and for the rest of my life, is serve my savior Jesus. It’s his beautiful world, and I want to know more about how it works and make new things.
I’m excited about going off to college and the opportunity to keep doing research.”
