{"id":10760,"date":"2026-10-30T13:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T20:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/?p=10760"},"modified":"2026-10-30T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T20:32:48","slug":"student-spotlight-reese-murphy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/2026\/10\/30\/student-spotlight-reese-murphy\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Reese Murphy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"breadcrumbs\" typeof=\"BreadcrumbList\" vocab=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/\">\r\n\t<!-- Breadcrumb NavXT 7.2.0 -->\n<span property=\"itemListElement\" typeof=\"ListItem\"><a property=\"item\" typeof=\"WebPage\" title=\"Go to Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.\" href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/\" class=\"main-home\" ><span property=\"name\">Voiland College<\/span><\/a><meta property=\"position\" content=\"1\"><\/span><span property=\"itemListElement\" typeof=\"ListItem\"><a property=\"item\" typeof=\"WebPage\" title=\"Go to Voiland College Student Success.\" href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\" class=\"home\" aria-current=\"page\"><span property=\"name\">Voiland College Student Success<\/span><\/a><meta property=\"position\" content=\"2\"><\/span><\/div><header class=\"wsu-article-header \">\r\n\t<h1 class=\"wsu-article-header__title\">\r\n\t\tStudent Spotlight: <br>Reese Murphy\t<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t<\/header>\r\n\n\n\n<p>First-year mechanical engineering student Reese Murphy is a recipient of Voiland College\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/scholarships\/\">Distinguished Dean&#8217;s Scholarship<\/a>, which provides full tuition and is renewable for up to four years, thanks to generous donor support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reese shares her thoughts about her decision to attend WSU and what she is looking forward to in her first year of school.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap wsu-spacing-after--xxmedium\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wsu-overlap__container\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap__column  wsu-overlap--surface-column\">\r\n    <div class=\"wsu-overlap__column-inner\">\r\n        \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large  wsu-image--style-framed\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2026\/10\/ReeseMurphy-e1793392298799-792x958.jpg\" alt=\"Reese Murphy.\" class=\"wp-image-10762\" \/><\/figure>\n\n    <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap__column  wsu-overlap--surface-column wsu-overlap--overlap-xxmedium\">\r\n    <div class=\"wsu-overlap__column-inner\">\r\n        \n\n<div style=\"height:70px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer wsu-hide--tablet\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-container wsu-dropshadow--medium wsu-color-background--white wsu-spacing-top--xmedium wsu-spacing-padding-right--xmedium wsu-spacing-padding-left--xmedium wsu-spacing-bottom--sxxsmall\" >\r\n    \n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Major: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/degrees.wsu.edu\/degree\/mechanical-engineering\/\">Mechanical Engineering<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Expected Date of Graduation:<\/strong> May 2030<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High School<\/strong>: Battle Ground Virtual Academy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Community College:<\/strong> Clark College<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hometown: <\/strong>Vancouver, WA<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scholarships:<\/strong>  \n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/scholarships\/\">Distinguished Dean\u2019s Scholarship<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regents Scholarship<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Distinguished University Achievement Award<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Roy F. Mather Scholarship<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BigFuture Scholarship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\t<\/div> \r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">What does it mean to receive the Distinguished Dean\u2019s Scholarship?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Receiving the Distinguished Dean\u2019s Scholarship made a path I hadn&#8217;t really imagined for myself feel possible. I hadn&#8217;t expected my plans to change the way they did, but I&#8217;m grateful they did. It gave me the opportunity to study at Pullman and see where this new chapter of my life might lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">Why did you choose to attend Washington State University?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I originally planned to attend <a href=\"https:\/\/vancouver.wsu.edu\/\">WSU Vancouver<\/a> because it was close to home and more affordable. My path changed when an unexpected opportunity brought me to Pullman. For some reason, something about the campus felt right to me, even though I couldn\u2019t quite explain why. I spent a lot of time overthinking that feeling, but ultimately chose to stay. The more I learned about the opportunities available to me in Pullman, especially in engineering, the more I felt that I had made the right choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">Why major in mechanical engineering?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I chose mechanical engineering because I found something I hadn\u2019t known I was looking for. My interest in aerospace began when I learned about the engineers behind a Mars rover mission. I was amazed that people could work together to create something that once seemed almost impossible. There was something about seeing what they had built that made me want to be part of that world too. I didn\u2019t know where that feeling would lead me, but I wanted to follow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">What&#8217;s one thing you didn&#8217;t know about your major before you came to WSU?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing I didn\u2019t realize about mechanical engineering is how many different paths it can lead to. I\u2019ve realized that choosing a major doesn\u2019t necessarily mean choosing one destination. Sometimes, it can simply give you the tools to discover where you want to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">What do you want to do with your degree after you graduate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After I graduate, I hope to work in the aerospace industry and contribute to work that helps turn ideas that once seemed impossible into reality. I\u2019m still figuring out exactly where that path will take me, but I want to keep learning until I find the place where I can contribute the most. For now, I\u2019m excited to see where this dream leads me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reese Murphy is a mechanical engineering student graduating in May 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14162,"featured_media":10762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[570],"tags":[606,597],"wsuwp_university_location":[332],"wsuwp_university_org":[504,443],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10760"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10834,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10760\/revisions\/10834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10760"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=10760"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=10760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}