Source: Michele Murphy, michelem@k-state.edu
Friday, May 15, 2009
K-STATE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STUDENT FROM OLATHE WINS SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL TOUR OF EUROPE
MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University student has won a scholarship that provides a 10-day, expenses paid educational tour to Europe this summer.
Michele Murphy, senior in elementary education, Olathe, is among the 10 winners of the Kappa Delta Pi/EF Tours Scholarship. The national scholarship encourages members of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education, to explore the idea of how international travel can impact future classrooms.
Scholarship applicants had to submit six 250-word essays and a letter of recommendation to be considered.
In her essay on why international travel and global awareness is important, Murphy wrote, "Experiencing other cultures and societies tears down barriers and preconceived notions that people often have about others. Traveling overseas helps us realize the common ties that bind us together as a human race."
Murphy also wrote about how the experience of traveling abroad will impact her future students: "As an influential role model for my students, I hope that they will inherit some of the benefits of a trip overseas through interacting with me in the classroom. These benefits include a passion and interest in various cultures, the curiosity to explore, and the desire to broaden their knowledge."
Murphy and the other scholarship recipients will leave June 13 from Washington, D.C., and travel to Berlin, Prague and Lucerne.
Murphy plans to graduate in May 2010 and would like to teach in the Kansas City area.
"I would love to teach somewhere between the third and sixth grades," she said. "I also plan to begin pursuing a master's degree right away somewhere in the field of education."
At K-State, Murphy is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Phi Kappa Phi honor society, the University Honors Program and the K-State Orchestra. She is the daughter of Robert and Colleen Murphy, Olathe.
The Kappa Delta Pi/EF Tours Scholarship is sponsored by Kappa Delta Pi, which works to sustain an honored community of diverse educators by promoting excellence and advancing scholarship, leadership and service and to help committed educators be leaders in improving education for global citizenship. It also is sponsored by EF Educational Tours, a pioneer in experiential learning, helping students abroad to encounter new cultures and languages firsthand.
